


SSSS Fanfic Frenzy

by Awesome_Sauce432



Category: Stand Still Stay Silent
Genre: Everything Will Be Tagged As It Arises, Gratuitous Foreign Languages - Will Sometimes Translate, Spectulation - Survivors In The Silent World, Violence - Not Extremely Graphic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-06
Updated: 2016-05-14
Packaged: 2018-05-31 15:26:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 21,979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6475723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Awesome_Sauce432/pseuds/Awesome_Sauce432
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>So this is my put in for Camp NaNoWriMo SSSS Fanfic Frenzy.</p>
<p>100 Prompts, 100 works/chapters. Some are only a few hundred words, others longer. It all depends. </p>
<p>My original plan was for a bunch of one-shots, but somehow it quickly morphed into an actual story, with a connecting plot and other such exciting things. </p>
<p>It will likely be updated randomly, and chapters will be revised.</p>
<p>After the event is over, I plan on going through and polishing the whole thing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Introduction

Hmmm." Sigrun knelt down to get closer to the ground, patting down the dirt.

"Well?" Mikkel asked, glancing around the landscape every now and then. For now, they were alone. 

Why they were making this detour, only Lalli really knew. Tuuri insisted he had said something about footprints. Fresh footprints, not made by him. It was on the way to their next camping spot for the night, so Sigrun had decided to check it out. If it was nothing, there was no harm done. 

"Yup, these are footprints." Sigrun announced, standing back up. Her eyebrows were knitted in concentration, still looking at the footprints. 

"Footprints we should be worried about?" 

"Probably not. They're certainly fresh, considering where we are, but whoever it was can't have been by less than a day ago." 

"Are you sure it wasn't Lalli seeing his own feet?" Mikkel asked. The idea of there being... Other people out here both concerned and excited him.

"Definitely not. These prints are way too big. Look, those are his footprints. Tiny." Sigrun pointed at some different footprints. They certainly were much smaller than the ones she had been examining.

"In any case, the sun will go down soon, and we still need to get to our camping site. The footprint is facing the same direction we're going. We can investigate it further tomorrow." Then she turned on her heel to go back to their tank. Mikkel paused a moment longer, glancing down at the footprints.

If there were other people out here... Maybe people collecting books like them, or studying the Silent World. He wondered who else would be crazy enough to do that. But another thought nagged at him. A thought that had popped into his head before, when he was feeling extra adventurous. The old 'what if there's more people out there' question. What if these footprints were made by a survivor? Someone who had lived in the Silent World his, or her, entire life? What if there was an entire colony of people, unaware of the rest of civilisation. 

Usually Mikkel dismissed it as pure fancy. How could anyone survive in the Silent World? It was forbidden for a reason, after all. Where would they live? But no matter how many justifications he made to prove to himself that it was impossible, he would think of other reasons to say that it was possible. They might live underground, far away from where trolls could reach them. They might have weaponry. They might live on an island, big enough for life to be sustainable and small enough to keep clear of the dangers. A million different possibilities.

After all, they certainly hadn't made that footprint. 

But with no way to determine whether or not there were people around, at least at the moment, Mikkel turned around and walked back to the tank. Tomorrow, he would make sure to investigate further.


	2. 3. Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, so the order of the prompts might skip around a bit. Generally they'll be in order, but occassionally I skip one.

"So, are we still going on like planned?" Tuuri asked once Sigrun got back on the tank.

"Yup." Sigrun pulled off her jacket, slumping down into the closest unoccupied chair. 

"Did you see the footprints?" Tuuri asked, turning to face Sigrun as Mikkel boarded the tank.

"Mmhmm. They're definitely not one of ours." Sigrun said, shrugging. Tuuri's eyes widened.

"There's other people around?! What are we going to do?" She said.

"Well first we're going to get to that safe spot. This lights not going to last forever. Off you go." Sigrun said, gesturing towards the steering wheel. Tuuri nodded, starting up the tank and beginning to drive. She didn't bump into anything when she started, a small miracle, and soon they were plodding along the path. 

The path was relatively clear, which everyone was thankful for, because the delay to check out the footprints meant they were a little behind schedule. No one was particularly worried, since they weren't that far from the camping spot, but the sun was starting to go down.

"Sooooo, what are we going to do about the footprints?" Tuuri asked while she drove.

"I'll investigate it further tomorrow. Who, or whatever it was, it hasn't been around for a while, so there's probably nothing to worry about." Sigrun said, relaxing in the chair.

"But if it's other people, that could be a major discovery! Of course, it could just be another research group, like us, but the chances of that are extremely low. But imagine discovering another colony of survivors! It would be incredible! They might have different methods to us, they might have developed an entirely different culture! Granted, it's only been ninty years since the virus first started, but still..." Tuuri proceeded to ramble on about how significant the discovery of other survivors would be. Sigrun listened, at least at first, but the rambling soon took a dive from 'idealistic but possible' to 'absolutely ridiculous'.

"It could be hundreds of people! Maybe even thousands! They might be from further south. They must be, I mean, the rash couldn't have killed off everyone down there. There must be survivors. Maybe they're linked up to other groups, like we are. It could be a whole new world!" Tuuri was saying, gesturing with one hand in an attempt to convey her points, and steering with the other. 

"We haven't even found people. Don't get ahead of yourself." Mikkel said, having listened to Tuuri's ramblings with mild interest.

"Exactly. Let's just focus on getting to where we want to go before the sun completely disappears." Sigrun said. 

"Alright. It would be amazing though." Tuuri said, grumbling a little.

Tuuri didn't say anything after that, focusing on her driving as the visibility got poorer. Mikkel was rummaging around in one of the supply boxes, trying to find their dinner. He was still concerned about the footprints, but he was certain there if it was a person, they wouldn't be able to trouble them after dark. If they'd survived this long, there was no way they'd not know that the night was a very dangerous time to be wandering around. Of course, the most likely scenario was that there were no other survivors in the Silent World, Lalli had been seeing things, and eventually everyone would forget about it.

But Mikkel had a sinking feeling that that would not be what happened.

Outside, the sun slipped behind the tallest trees in the area, and as the tank grew closer and closer to their destination, the light slowly waned. By the time they got there, the sun had just disappeared over the horizon, and everyone was pleased with their timing. After a quick check to ensure the immediate area was safe, they all began to settle down for the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here the relation to the prompt 'Light' is that our group of adventures is rapidly losing it. Their little detour cost them a bit of time, and soon it will become dark. Which leads us to our next chapter...


	3. 4. Dark

Lalli was the only one awake that night, scouting a tiny abandoned village nearby their current rest stop. There had been nothing much of interest, as far as he was concerned anyway. The other part of his scouting mission that night was a small coast. It had a road leading to a larger city a while away. It was supposed to be their next big stop, but they had to make sure the road was clear of any huge obstacles.

After determining that the village was clear, Lalli began wandering down the road, watching the forests on his left and the water on his right. 

The forest was quite normal, though not as familiar to Lalli as the ones back home. He would much prefer to be scouting the forest back home in Finland, than here. But Tuuri said this was important, so he scouted these places. Sometimes they were interesting, but mostly it was either boring forest or trolls, which he didn't like very much. The nasty things.

But the forest cast strange shadows on the road as Lalli walked, sometimes obscuring the moon as it slowly rose up into the sky. At least the shadows sometimes made interesting shapes for Lalli to look at. The water wasn't interesting at all, just lapping at the beach and making noises. 

Lalli stopped for a moment, trying to figure out how much further he needed to go before he could turn and go back to the tank. Then he could sleep for a while. While he stopped, he turned and looked at the water. Still boring. He looked upwards, towards the horizon. Far in the distance, he could see what looked like a small smudge in the darkness going around and joining up with the land Lalli was on, poking up out of the water. Land. Much closer, he could see another dark shape jutting up, but not connected to anything. An island. 

Lalli had looked at the maps of where he was supposed to go, and was fairly sure he knew where this island was. Now he just had to go a little further, past the island, and then he could leave. 

The island was fairly small, with some trees on it. But as Lalli looked, he felt something. It wasn't a troll, but something else. Something was on that island. He thought back to the footprints he'd found. Maybe that was what was on the island. Whatever made the footprints.

He wondered for a moment what it could be, vaguely considering investigating further. But he had no way to get to the island, and frankly, did not care for this place. The only reason he told Tuuri about the footprints was because they were on the path he had been taking. That, and Tuuri liked a full blown breakdown of his, as she called them 'adventures'. Tuuri had told all the others, and Lalli got to sleep for ten minutes longer than usual while the other people sorted it out. Maybe there was something to this whole 'report anything strange' business. 

But he hadn't really found anything here. He just felt something. Mage powers, especially when it came to sensing trolls and unfamiliar humans, could be finicky at times. Besides, they were going to go this way anyway. So it didn't matter.

After doing a bit more scouting further ahead, Lalli turned back to the tank. The sun was ready to chase away the darkness, and Lalli had practically forgotten about the island. He was ready for sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lalli doesn't care about footprints in the dirt. He only told the others about them because he had casually mentioned seeing them to Tuuri, who naturally got very excited because 'survivors!!!'
> 
> The relation to the prompt 'Dark' is pretty clear here. It is night, it is very dark, and Lalli is prowling around doing his night scout things.


	4. 5. Seeking Solace

That morning, Tuuri was, as usual, the last one to wake up. Mikkel was already outside making breakfast, with Reynir's help. Sigrun was looking around outside, and Emil was rummaging around in his bag. Lalli, who must have been let in by someone earlier that morning, was fast asleep on the ground. Inwardly, Tuuri sighed. She had wondered if Lalli had seen more footprints or something last night. In truth, it kept her up for a while.

It would be one of the most significant discoveries of their age. Probably more important than the books they were finding! Other survivors? It was unheard of. Earlier on in the outbreak, maybe a few years or so after the outbreak first start, small patches of survivors, who had sealed themselves off, were common. But slowly, they all disappeared, either ending up with the rest of the civilisation, or dead. From what Tuuri could remember, the last time a survivor had been found in what was now known as the Silent World was Year 23! Of course, it could just be hardly anyone ever went into the Silent World to look. 

Coming outside for breakfast however, it was clear the others didn't quite share her enthusiasm.

"Good morning!" She said brightly. In Icelandic, since Reynir didn't understand anything else. Sigrun was standing a further way away, so Tuuri called a 'good morning' in Swedish for her, since Swedish and Norwegian were fairly similar.

"Good morning Tuuri" Reynir said, smiling. He was stirring a pot of what would be their breakfast, looking very pleased with himself for stirring so well. Mikkel looked pleased that he had fixed the pot, finally. One entirely empty roll of duct tape sat next to him. He nodded in acknowledgement of Tuuri's greeting.

"So, what's the plan for today?" Tuuri asked Mikkel, in Icelandic so Reynir could join in the conversation if he wished. 

"Go into the town Lalli scouted last night. There's a library in there, maybe some of its books survived." Mikkel said. He also spoke in Icelandic. Tuuri's face fell, which Mikkel noticed.

"What about the footprints? Are we going to do anything about them? Is Sigrun investigating them now?" She asked, looking hopefully towards Sigrun, who was looking down at the ground a while away.

"She's seeing if she can find anything out of the ordinary. Which might include footprints." Mikkel said. Reynir, who had been listening to the conversation with interest, decided to speak up.

"What footprints? Lalli and Emil don't speak Icelandic, so they couldn't tell me." He said.

"Lalli found footprints while he was scouting a couple nights ago. Human footprints!" Tuuri said, while Mikkel took over the stirring of breakfast. Reynir looked up at Tuuri, blankly.

"So, there are other people out here? I thought that no one lived in the Silent World." Reynir said.

"That's what we thought too! But maybe we were wrong!" Tuuri said, eyes wide. Reynir at least seemed to get the significance of this, eyes widening.

"That would be, really good, right?" He asked. Tuuri nodded vigorously. It was be amazing.

"Tuuri, you have to remember that it's entirely possible that the footprints mean nothing. They might lead us on a wild goose chase. You shouldn't get your hopes up too high." Mikkel said, his face impassive. Reynir and Tuuri looked at him, then glanced at each other.

"Y-yeah, I know." Tuuri said, looking down at the ground. She did know she was being very optimistic, but optimism never hurt anyone, right?

"Just don't get yourself too excited." Mikkel said. Tuuri nodded, sighing. She was the only one who was really getting excited about this. Mikkel was, admittedly, being realistic. Sigrun probably felt the same, Lalli didn't really care, and she doubted Emil would either. Reynir seemed interested, at least, but didn't quite understand just how important a discovery of other survivors would be.

She went back inside the tank, leaving Mikkel and Reynir to continue making breakfast. Lalli was still fast asleep, but she ran into Emil, literally. 

"Oh, sorry Emil." She said, rubbing her forehead. 

"It's fine. Didn't hurt much." Emil said, putting a stray lock of golden hair behind his ear.

"Right... You don't think it's impossible, do you?" Tuuri asked, avoiding Emil's questioning glance.

"What do you mean? What's impossible?" He asked.

"There being other survivors out here. Living in the Silent World." Tuuri continued. She was fairly sure Emil would say 'Yes, it's definitely impossible'. After all, there was no evidence to the contrary. Except for a few footprints. People did say that Tuuri could be easily excitable sometimes. Emil scratched the back of his neck, thinking about the question.

"Well, I guess it's possible, but really, really unlikely. They'd have it be really tough. Why?" Emil finally said.

"Because Lalli found footprints, and they weren't from any of us, so I thought, who could it be from? But it's probably just a big misunderstanding, and some animal or troll or something made it." Tuuri said, speaking quickly. Emil blinked, processing what she had just said. Tuuri sighed, taking Emil's silence as confirmation that she was being ridiculous.

"I'm probably just being stupid." She said, looking at the ground.

"No, I don't think it's stupid. I mean, it's possible. It would be cool if there were survivors out here." Emil said quickly, trying to think of the best way to lift Tuuri's spirits. 

"Really?" 

"Yeah. I mean, it is unlikely, but not impossible. And unlikely things have happened before. Like all of us surviving this long in the Silent World." Emil said, grinning. Tuuri poked him in the shoulder.

"Well it's true. We've probably broken some kind of record." Emil said. Tuuri smiled.

"Well, if we find other people, they'll probably get the record." She said. Talking with Emil had made her feel better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The prompt for this chapter 'Seeking Solace' gave me a little trouble. I was tempted to skip it over, but I didn't. In this case, Tuuri is the one seeking solace, that her theories aren't absolutely ridiculous. Of course, Mikkel doesn't think it's absolutely ridiculous, he's just being realistic. 
> 
> Maybe I also wanted to do some Emil/Tuuri bonding. They are so cute.


	5. 6. Break Away

"Who are they?" A slim, white haired figure asked her companion.

"I still don't know Rebekka. They speak other languages. Some seem similar to ours though." 

"We should try to talk to them, maybe they speak Danish, but other languages are their native one." Rebekka said, crawling a little further from their hiding place in the bushes. Her companion put a hand on her shoulder. 

"No. We don't know who they are, or why they are here. Our job is to observe, see if they are a threat to us. If they are not, we may be allowed to approach them." 

Rebekka sunk back into the bushes, frowning. 

"Look at their vehicle. It is so interesting. It has cat ears." She said. 

"I wonder why." The man next to her said.

As they watched, the vehicle began to move, all its occupants having gone inside. Rebekka had been watching them for a while. About a week. She found them so fascinating, she'd never seen any people outside of Himmel. When she first saw their strange vehicle, she had thought it was an extremely weird troll. But further examination revealed people living inside the vehicle. 

After a few more days of observation, she brought along Nikolaj, the head scout for the colony. Now here they were.

The two got up from their hiding place, moving through the brush to follow the vehicle as it moved. They crept along in silence, in case anything unexpected happened. Nothing did.

Eventually, the vehicle reached the town at the edge of the waterfront. Rebekka and Nikolaj glanced at each other. What would they be doing here? There wasn't as much brush and bushes to hide them here, and they didn't like creeping around inside the buildings where monsters might be hiding. But they couldn't lose the vehicle.

Nikolaj signalled to Rebekka to follow him. He led her around one of the buildings, where an old, rotten tree had fallen onto a building. He began to climb up, while Rebekka watched for a few seconds.

"What if it breaks?" Rebekka whispered, glancing down the road the vehicle had taken.

"Then we find another way. Come on, we don't have time." Nikolaj said, climbing up the tree with skill that told Rebekka he'd done it before. She sighed, climbing up along the base of the fallen tree. The tree was quite unstable, creaking as Rebekka crawled up the trunk of the tree. But she made it without falling and breaking something, reaching the top of the building.

Nikolaj was kneeling at the edge of the building, watching the vehicle lumber through the streets.

"They are headed to the centre of the town." He said as Rebekka approached him. 

"I wonder why..." Rebekka said, her eyes wide. Nikolaj shrugged, turning back to look at them.

"They don't seem threatening to you, don't you think?" Rebekka continued, watching the vehicle carefully. They were on top of one of the tallest buildings in the town, and though sometimes the vehicle disappeared from their sight, they could see it most of the time. 

"From what I've seen, no. But I think we need to observe them a little longer. Get a gauge on all of them. It was smart to tell us about them Rebekka." Nikolaj said. Rebekka smiled, pleased with herself. She was the newest scout, fresh out of what was considered 'scout training' in their colony. She hadn't expected to find something like this so quickly, but she had to admit she'd hoped she could do something important and exciting. Life in the colony itself was boring, but if you were a scout, you might find something incredible. 

She flicked stray strands of hair behind her ear, her cheeks red. And if she could prove that these people were harmless to them, it would be amazing! There might be other colonies out there! She'd always thought they were alone, that they were the last humans on earth. She'd often wondered if that was true. But here was solid proof. Other people were alive! They weren't alone! It was the most exciting thing to happen to Rebekka, period. Nothing else came close. Not even being made a scout.

"How much longer will we need to observe them? Who will speak to them?" Rebekka asked. 

"I will probably speak to them. One of them might speak Danish. If not, I'm sure we will find a way to communicate." Nikolaj said.

"But how long til then?" Rebekka repeated, still looking at the vehicle.

"Maybe another week, I'm not sure." Rebekka pursed her lips. A week was such a long time, they might leave before then. She looked at where the vehicle was now. It had stopped in the centre of the town, and she could see people getting out of their vehicle. She might be able to get to them... If she were quick, and could get away from Nikolaj. Luckily, Rebekka was quite petite and nimble, a skill which was useful in scouting, and sneaking away from her elders. 

"Come Rebekka, we can go closer." Nikolaj said, standing up. He looked over his shoulder, seeing nothing but air and the tops of trees. He looked to the left, and saw Rebekka five buildings over, leaping to get to the sixth. He frowned. He couldn't yell, lest he get the attention of the people. She was too far away for him to reach in time to stop her. 

Hopefully, these people were as harmless as she seemed to think, he though, beginning to race across the roof tops.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we meet our first Original Characters! And what do you know, Tuuri was right about there being survivors. At least, in this fic she is. This whole thing will probably be rendered extremely AU, but whatever :P
> 
> Anyway, here the prompt is 'Break Away', which is what our new friend Rebekka does at the end of this chapter. Rebekka does not always make smart decisions. Yes, let's approach the strange people. Nothing could possibly go wrong. Fortunately for Rebekka, our heros are very nice.
> 
> Also, Himmel means 'Heaven' in Danish. At least, according to my translate app.


	6. 7. Heaven

Emil stepped out of the tank, looking up at the abandoned library. It looked safe enough, but most buildings did until one saw the trolls nest inside. 

"Alright, let's get to it!" Sigrun said, walking past Emil. 

"Hej! Hvad laver du?" An unfamiliar voice shouted from somewhere above. Sigrun and Emil both stiffened, whirling towards the sound. 

On top of a building, watching them, was a girl. An actual, freaking girl. She looked slim, with long, nearly white hair tied into a loose side ponytail that hung down. Her clothes looked a mismatched bunch of clothes sewn together. 

Emil recognised the girl as speaking Danish, but his Danish was absolutely awful, and Sigrun's wasn't much better. The girls accent was incredibly thick as well! Not helping matters. He was fairly sure the girl had said hello, but beyond that? No clue. 

"Uh, hej?" Emil said, stumbling through the few words of Danish. The girl smiled widely.

"Mikkel! Get out here!" Sigrun yelled into the tank. Mikkel appeared in a few moments, and Sigrun pointed at the girl on the roof, who watched them curiously.

"She speaks Danish. Find out what she wants, who she's with, where she came from." Sit run instructed, still pointing at the girl. Emil watched her, tilting his head. Mikkel nodded, shouting up to the girl, who shouted back.

"She says her name is Rebekka. There is one other man with her. She says she came from... Heaven." Mikkel said. Sigrun scoffed.

"Heaven? Does she think she's an angel?" She said, folding her arms and looking up at the girl again.

"I think it's the name of her home. Heaven. Himmel." Mikkel said, before looking up and speaking it Rebekka again. 

They spoke back and forth for a while, Emil being able to kind of follow along. As far as he could tell, the girl wanted to know what they were doing here, and Mikkel was explaining that they were collecting books. He was also asking about where she lived, how they survived. Emil thought momentarily that Tuuri would freak out the second she saw Rebekka. She had been right, there were other people out here.

"She's going to come down." Mikkel said at the end of the conversation. Sure enough, Rebekka had disappeared from the top of the roof, only to reappear again. Now that she was closer, Emil could see that she was very skinny, with lean legs and a thin face. Her eyes were a murky blue-grey, but they were lit up in excitement. She was babbling in Danish, far too fast for Emil to keep up, but Mikkel nodded along, listening. 

Just then, Tuuri chose that moment to come out of the tank.

"Hey guys, why are you-waah.." Her voice cut off when she saw Rebekka, who looked at Tuuri curiously. 

"Oh my gosh! Who is that?! Where did she come from!? Are there more?! I was right?! Oh my gosh!" Tuuri began speaking at such a pace, Emil couldn't hope to keep up, even if she had been speaking in Swedish. Instead, Tuuri slipped into her native Finnish, running up to Rebekka, who had no clue what she was saying. 

"Tuuri, calm down. She speaks Danish. Her name is Rebekka." Mikkel said, putting a hand on Tuuri's shoulder, saying something to Rebekka, who nodded. 

"Okay, okay, okay. Has she told you where she comes from? I can't believe this is happening." Tuuri said, bouncing up and down on the spot. Emil wondered if she would ever leave poor Rebekka alone after this.

"She lives in a place called Himmel." Mikkel said.

"Where is that? Can you ask her?" Tuuri asked.

"Rebekka!" Another unfamiliar voice called out, from the same roof they had seen Rebekka. Emil looked up at the roof curiously, while Rebekka sighed, saying something to Mikkel.

"It's her companion. She says he will likely be mad at her." Mikkel translated to the rest of the group. Emil nodded, as a man appeared on the roof, looking very mad indeed.

He disappeared, coming down, presumably the same way Rebekka had. He was very thin, like Rebekka, but clearly had some muscles. His hair was black, and his eyes a dark blue. His face was thin, and unshaven. He proceeded to speak to Rebekka in Danish, his tone calm but clearly brimming with anger. Rebekka crossed her arms, talking back to him. Occassionally she pointed to the rest of them.

Mikkel, being the only one who could understand the whole conversation, looked quite uncomfortable. Emil could understand some of it, and caught some of a very heated conversation. Sigrun just watched them blankly, and Tuuri looked like she was about to faint from excitement.

Eventually, the pair stopped talking to each other. Rebekka looked pleased with herself, while the man just frowned. He spoke to the entire group, though Emil only caught that he was introducing himself.

"His name is Nikolaj. He apologises for the forwardness of Rebekka." Mikkel translated. 

"It's not a problem at all! It's amazing! We had no idea other people were out here? Do they live nearby?" Tuuri asked, bouncing forward and sticking out a hand for Nikolaj to shake. Mikkel quickly translated for her. Rebekka smiled and spoke, and Nikolaj accepted Tuuri's handshake.

"They don't live too far from here." Mikkel said. Emil was afraid Tuuri might actually faint, she was so excited.

"How many people live out here?" Emil asked. Once again, Mikkel acted as translator.

"Just over three hundred." He said. Sigrun whistled lowly.

Nikolaj and Mikkel had another small conversation, both of them nodding a lot. Rebekka walked up to Emil and Tuuri, while Sigrun attempted to look like she knew what Mikkel and Nikolaj were talking about.

"Hej! Hvad er dit fulde navn?" Rebekka said. 

"Oh, she's asking for our names." Tuuri said to Emil, though he had gathered that. 

"Emil." He said, holding out a hand to shake. Rebekka nodded, taking his hand.

"Tuuri." Tuuri did the same when Emil was done. She looked at Rebekka, clearly wanting to ask as many questions as possible, but the language barrier made things a bit difficult. One could muddle their way through Danish if they knew Swedish, but Mikkel had to speak very carefully, otherwise they wouldn't understand. Tuuri looked ready to try.

"Do you have family?" She asked, trying to be as careful as she could, and use the Danish words she knew. 

"Family?" Rebekka asked. Tuuri nodded.

"Yes. I have one søster and one bror, and my mor og far." Rebekka said, looking pleased when Tuuri and Emil nodded in understanding. 

"So you live in Himmel? Is it nice?" Tuuri continued, thankful that Danish and Swedish were similar enough languages. Working with Mikkel had given her practise on understanding Danish, but when they spoke too fast, like Rebekka often did, it was very difficult to understand. Rebekka nodded after a second.

"How do you get food? Do you grow it? What kind of food is it? What about protein, do you have animals?" Tuuri asked, so quickly that Rebekka didn't have a hope of understanding. Emil repeated the questions, slower for her.

"Ah, yes. We grow much of our food. We have some animals also." Rebekka said, though it took a while to get it slow enough that they could all understand. Tuuri didn't mind at all, hanging onto the girls every word.

"So interesting. What about your clothes? They look like hand-me-downs, no offence. And how do you get to Himmel? How do you keep the trolls out? Can I go home with you?" Tuuri kept the questions coming. Rebekka didn't seem to mind at all, smiling at the attention. 

Emil took another look at her. She was quite small, shorter than Tuuri. She looked quite young as well.

"How old are you Rebekka?" He asked. 

"Um, fifteen." Emil and Tuuri looked at each other, shocked. Fifteen? And walking around in the Silent World? 

"Is something wrong?" Rebekka asked, looking up at the two. She had gotten a little more confident speaking to them. It did help that Danish and Swedish were very similar languages, though Rebekka's accent was quite thick, causing most of the problems. Norweigian wasn't that far off either, but Nikolaj's accent wasn't much better, so Sigrun was in the same boat at Tuuri and Emil. 

"Oh, we're just surprised. Fifteen is quite young. Relatively, I mean." Emil said. After all, Emil was only four years older. But it was hard to imagine any fifteen year old wandering around in the Silent World.

"In Himmel we are all expected to be useful, because there are so few of us. I wanted to scout outside. It is so interesting." Rebekka said, puffing her chest out in pride. 

"That is very interesting. What about schooling? Did you go to school?" Tuuri asked. Rebekka looked at her blankly, forcing Tuuri to amend her statement.

"I mean learn how to read and write and things. Do maths. Do they not have that at Himmel?" 

"No. I learnt how to farm, and cook, and do useful things like that. Only a few people can read at Himmel, mostly old people. It all looked very boring to me. Do you do that where you are from?" Rebekka said. Emil and Tuuri nodded.

"Pretty much all the kids go to school. Then we can get a job. Like, I'm a cleanser, and Tuuri is a skald." Emil said.

"That is so interesting. You have a scout too right? I have seen her look around at night." Emil was confused for a moment. She must mean Lalli.

"Oh yes. But our scout is a boy. His name is Lalli, and he's my cousin. he's just sleeping inside right now." Tuuri said. Rebekka nodded.

"He looked a lot like a girl to me." Rebekka said, looking a little embarrassed.

Wait until you meet Reynir, Emil thought. His braid was sure to throw Rebekka off. 

"It's fine. Please, tell us more about Himmel. How many children are there? Who decides the laws? Oh my goodness, the radio! We have to tell the Known World about you guys!" Tuuri suddenly gasped, looking torn between telling everyone about Rebekka, Nikolaj and Himmel, and asking Rebekka more questions. Emil sighed, turning to walk back to the tank.

"Make sure to speak slowly enough for her to understand, Tuuri." Emil said as he walked away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here the main characters meet original characters. Tuuri is over the moon that other survivors exist.
> 
> My prompt for this chapter, 'Heaven' is brought into it by Himmel, the name of the place where Rebekka and Nikolaj live. Yup, they named their colony of survivors 'Heaven'. And there are tons more names like that yet to come.
> 
> Translations:  
> Hej! Hvad laver du? = Hi! What are you doing? 
> 
> Hvad er dit navn? = What is your name?
> 
> søster = sister
> 
> bror = brother
> 
> mor og far = mother and father


	7. 8. Innocence

Rebekka was so excited. These people were so nice! Even if Tuuri spoke far too quickly for her to really understand, but she didn't mind. Nikolaj had been paranoid. Sure he'd have to admit now that these people were great, and weren't a threat to Himmel. 

"I wish I could see Himmel. It would be so nice." Tuuri was saying. Sometimes she was a little hard to understand, even when she spoke slowly. She had said that she was currently speaking Swedish, as it was the closest to Danish, but that her native language was Finnish. 

Rebekka was amazed by it all. She had heard of Sweden and Finland, but she had never dreamed she would meet someone from there! As far as most people in Himmel were concerned, they were the last people on earth. Except for the people at Helvede, but they hated outsiders.

She considered Tuuri's statement. It would be nice if they could see Himmel. She could introduce them to her family and friends. Jutta would love to meet new people. 

"Come, Tuuri." Rebekka said, taking Tuuri's hand and leading her back to where Nikolaj, Mikkel, and the other, red haired woman were standing and talking.

"Nikolaj! Nikolaj! Can we take them back home? We can talk to them more, and-" Rebekka was cut off by Nikolaj putting a hand up.

"Rebekka, we cannot just take them back to Himmel." Nikolaj began.

"But we have to take them back! There's other people out there! We need to find out more!" Rebekka pleaded.

"Yeah! Can we go with them? Please!?" Tuuri said, to Mikkel and Sigrun, who just looked at each other.

"Well, considering we don't live there, I'd say it's Nikolaj's call. Though I think it's a great idea." Sigrun said, her hands on her hips. 

Nikolaj sighed, now faced with both Rebekka and Tuuri silently begging him to let them go. Surely he would cave under the pressure. Rebekka couldn't see any problem whatsoever. What was stopping them? She wanted to learn more about where Tuuri lived, it seemed so interesting. Maybe even more interesting than being a scout. 

"Alright. They can follow us close to Himmel, and then I will go ahead and tell them. If they say it is alright, we will bring them the rest of the way." Nikolaj said, frowning even deeper than he had been before. Rebekka cheered, and Tuuri began cheering a moment later. 

They began moving almost immediately. Tuuri had started driving the second everyone was on board, barely waiting for them to close the door. Rebekka had claimed the passenger seat right next to Tuuri, and the two began batting questions and answers at each other, faster and faster as they got used to each other's accents. 

"What does that do?" Rebekka asked, pointing at one of the buttons.

"That makes the windscreen wipers go." Tuuri said, driving like she was being chased by a troll. 

"Which way?" Tuuri asked, once she realised she didn't actually know where to go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little shorter than the other one. Whoops.
> 
> Anyway, the prompt for this one was 'Innocence'. Here, the innocence refers mostly to Rebekka, who seems to think all their problems will be solved now that outsiders are here. In this case, innocence can also be interchanged with naivety. It's not as strong a relation between prompt and chapter as it could be, but I tried.
> 
> Translations: 
> 
> Helvede = Hell
> 
> Because that's not ominous at all. But more on that later.


	8. 9. Drive

Tuuri could barely believe it. They had actual found other survivors! Well, more like other survivors found them, but same thing. She had been right! She realised she had to be making notes on this. Rebekka wasn't able to write, and based on what she had said it seemed likely Nikolaj wouldn't be able to either. But she could write it all down, record everything they said. It would incredible. A colony of survivors, in the Silent World! It had been unheard of for nearly seventy years.

Now they just needed to get to Himmel. Tuuri drove like she never drove before, causing Sigrun to shout that she was going to get them all killed. Rebekka loved it.

"Oh, what is that! It's making a breeze. Oh, turn left there!" She said, poking just about every button she could reach.

"How do you get around in Himmel? I suppose it isn't very big." Tuuri asked, trying to make sure they didn't all crash while asking questions at the same time.

"No, it isn't. We mostly walk everywhere. But once, I found this thing with two wheels, and I could make it move using these two pedals, though it didn't work very well." Rebekka said.

"A bicycle, those are fun. Do I turn here?" Tuuri asked.

"Oh, no, keep going straight. We need to go down this road a little. Nikolaj will tell us when to stop. Right Nikolaj?" Rebekka turned around to look at where Mikkel, Sigrun and Nikolaj were. 

"Stop when we get to the shore." Nikolaj said, looking a bit green. 

"Okay! I'll tell you when to stop, but keep going for now. What about where you live? What's it like?" Rebekka asked, turning back to Tuuri.

"Well, I live in this place called Keuruu, it's like a sort of military base. I was t allowed to go outside much, because I'm not immune to the rash sickness, so it was a bit boring, but it's nice enough." Tuuri said.

"Wow. What about your family? You said the scout is your cousin. Do you have any brothers or sisters?" Rebekka asked, her eyes dreamy.

"I have an older brother, his name is Onni. He's mage, and so is Lalli. I don't suppose you guys have any mages in Himmel, do you?" Tuuri tried to think of whether she had ever heard of a Danish Mage. She hadn't. Sure enough, Rebekka shook her head.

"No. What do mages do?" 

"Basically, they can use magic. There are two types of mages, from Finland and from Iceland. Icelandic mages use these runes to use magic, while Finnish mages use spells." Tuuri said, looking at Rebekka. She was nodding, though didn't look like she fully understood. 

"That is so interesting." Rebekka said, sighing dreamily. "My life seems boring in comparison."

"Your life is amazing to me! I mean, surviving in the Silent World? It's incredible! I've always though that there must be other people out there. I heard there used to be over seven billion people on the planet before the rash sickness. There must be other survivors out there, somewhere." Tuuri said. "Do you know of any other groups of survivors like you?" Rebekka paused for a moment, thinking.

"Well, there is one other. Helvede. They are not very nice though. We found out about them a few years ago. They always keep to themselves, do not trust us. I think Nikolaj thought at first that you came from there. I did not though. People from Helvede do not have vehicles like yours. And you are much cleaner, well-fed." Rebekka said, her voice a little quieter than it had been before.

"I wonder why they are like that." Tuuri said. 

"I do not know. My mother says they have had it harder than us. Not as lucky to have a place like Himmel. Harder for them to survive. She says that I ever see someone from Helvede, I should stay away to be safe." Rebekka said, sighing.

Tuuri was quiet, thinking. Rebekka looked away, and for a moment they were both silent. 

"Oh, we can stop here." Rebekka said, looking up suddenly. Tuuri braked, the tank skidding a few more metres. Sigrun loudly complained about the sudden stop, and Rebekka jumped out from her seat.

They had stopped in the middle of the road. Barely ten metres to the left was water, lapping gently.

"Alright. Rebekka, we shall go over and see the elders together." Nikolaj said. Rebekka waved a quick goodbye before following Nikolaj into the brush on the right of the tank, leaving the others.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The prompt for this one was 'Drive'. In this chapter, they are driving. That's about it. *shrug*
> 
> In other news, we learn a bit more about Himmel and Helvede. Helvede is not a very nice place. Himmel is a bit better.


	9. 10. Breathe Again

"So, do we just wait?" Emil asked, poking his head out of the 'bedroom' in the tank, where Lalli was still fast asleep, completely undisturbed by everything that had gone on. 

"Seems so." Mikkel said, looking in the spot where Rebekka and Nikolaj had disappeared. 

"Has anyone seen my pen? Or any pen?" Tuuri asked, running from the drivers seat and practically leaping into a chair, pulling it up to the desk filled with books and papers. She rummaged through them, finding an empty journal and pen, beginning to write furiously.

"They seemed nice." Emil said, walking to join Sigrun and Mikkel.

"I'm suspicious. How did they survive so long out here... This could be a trap." Sigrun said, looking at their surroundings carefully. She didn't seem to find anything that signalled an ambush, but remained on edge. Mikkel just grunted.

"A trap set by whom? They've clearly survived somehow. I don't think they were lying. Rebekka wasn't at least." Emil said. He had quite liked the girl, and she seemed very genuine. About as excited to meet new people as Tuuri had been to meet them. 

"Still, we need to be careful. This is new territory." Sigrun said.

"Emil, did you radio Trond and the others? Do they know about this yet?" Tuuri asked, her hands already blotted with ink.

"Oh, I tried, but no one answered. I think they were busy." Emil said, scratching the back of his head. 

"Well we have to try again! Keep calling until they answer!" Tuuri announced, fumbling with the radio handset. "Hello? Tuuri here? Please answer, it's very important!" Static came from the radio, as well as audible thumping from the other end of the line. 

"This is Trond. What's going on?" A voice finally came through the line. He was speaking in Norweigian, and Tuuri in Swedish so that most members of the party could understand. Reynir, who could only speak and understand Icelandic, left the room to go back to the bunks. There was nothing in the conversation for him. 

"We found people!" Tuuri practically shouted into the radio. There was silence for a few seconds.

"You found what?" Trond did not sound like he believed people.

"Theresawholecolonyofsurvivorsouthereandwefoundthem!" Tuuri continued, speaking fast and without punctuation.

"Breathe child, what are you going on about?" Tuuri took a few deep breaths, while the others watched her. Emil was fairly sure the girl would run herself into the ground before long. Sigrun looked mildly amused by it, and Emil had no idea how Mikkel was feeling. 

"Survivors. In the Silent World. We found a whole colony of them!" Tuuri said after catching her breath.

"WHAT?! HOW MANY? WHAT ARE THEY DOING THERE? WHO IS THEIR LEADER, WHERE IS IT?" A new voice, probably Torbjörn's, screamed over the radio. Tuuri nearly threw the thing out of her hands, not prepared for the sudden noise. But she recovered quickly, and began throwing answers to questions at the speed of lightning. Torbjörn gave more questions just as fast, and Emil soon lost track of the rapidfire Q&A. Mikkel seemed to be keeping up, despite having to translate a few words from Swedish to Danish, but Sigrun seemed to just give up, instead stalking outside the tank to look around. 

"What are you doing?" Emil asked, since listening to Tuuri relay everything that had happened to Torbjörn at the speed of light wasn't exactly appealing.

"Watching for those two to return." Sigrun said, looking out at the water in front of her. 

"Oh. Where do you think Himmel might be?" 

"Either underground, or on an island, like that one." Sigrun pointed to an island in the middle of the water, jutting up in the landscape. "Easier to defend." 

"Yeah, I guess so." Really, Emil couldn't think of how anyone could live in the Silent World, but apparently someone had done it, and started a whole colony. 

Sigrun continued to watch out for Rebekka and Nikolaj to come back, but eventually Emil went back inside the tank. Tuuri and Torbjörn were still chatting about the implications of a survivor colony, like whether it would be feasible to bring them back to the Known World, where it was definitely safer for them. 

Emil went back to ether bunks. Lalli was still asleep, as he tended to sleep during the day. Emil wondered how Lalli would react when told of Rebekka, Nikolaj, and Himmel. He'd probably just blink, maybe twice, then continue with whatever he was doing. Say something to Tuuri, maybe something like, 'That is nice, can I go back to sleep now?'. Emil still couldn't understand any Finnish beyond 'Hello', 'Goodbye', and 'I don't know Finnish'. The last phrase had at least been useful before.

Emil relaxed on his bunk, which had a few photos taped on the wall next to it. Everyone had a few photos or something of their family, though not everyone taped them on their wall. Except for Reynir, who wasn't supposed to have been on the trip in the first place. There hadn't been much room for family photos in the box he had (quite literally) turned up in. 

Emil nodded a hello to Reynir, who nodded back. Emil didn't know Icelandic, and Reynir didn't know Swedish, so gestures was the majority of their conversations if there was no one to translate for them. Reynir was sitting on his little bed, which was in the small space underneath Tuuri's bunk. Lalli occupied the other small space, underneath Mikkel's bunk. Reynir's bed was, unfortunately, nothing more than a few blankets, and one more folded up to act as a pillow, since the tank was only expected to house five, not six. Reynir hadn't complained about it (as far as Emil knew), and had actually apologised for using up the extra blankets. 

There wasn't much to do but wait for Rebekka and Nikolaj to come back. Their original plan for the day, to check that old library for books, had gone down the drain when Rebekka showed up. So Emil figured he was free to just relax for a while. Try and process what had happened so far that day. He had a feeling a lot more was yet to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The prompt for this was 'Breath Again' in this case, it's Tuuri who needs to calm down and take some breaths. *laughs nervously because that totally relates to the prompt* 
> 
> In any case, now those back at home know about there being other survivors. Will this affect anything? *shrug* Don't ask me.


	10. 11. Memories

Nikolaj was a very pragmatic person. It was how one survived in this world. At least, in his world. His version of the world had been turned quite upside down after meeting these people. They weren't instantly hostile towards them, which was good, but they weren't completely trusting either. Well, some of them were, with the small Tuuri girl coming to mind, but others were not. 

Besides, Nikolaj thought, walking along with a beaming Rebekka next to him, Himmel was not short of trusting people either. Trust could be a valuable ally. But Nikolaj remembered times where it had also proved easily abused. 

"Did we have to take them so far away? They might see us row across anyway." Rebekka said, climbing down off the road and onto the beach. They had walked for about ten minutes, hopefully far enough away that the group they had left behind would be unable to see them.

"We must be careful. You already took a great risk approaching them. Don't think you will be forgiven so easily for that just because it might turn out well this time." Nikolaj said, his voice stern. Rebekka frowned, folding her arms up.

"Don't look at me like that. Now come on, help me with the boat." Nikolaj pulled off a camouflaged tarp, which covered three small boats. Each was big enough for three people if they sat close together. They pulled out one of the boats, which had two oars tucked underneath the seats. 

Rebekka was stubbornly silent for all of it, taking a seat in front of Nikolaj, probably for the sole reason that it would be easier for her to give him the silent treatment. Nikolaj far preferred it to when she talked a mile a minute. He knew it would only be a while until she gave up. 

Rowing the boat across the water was a simple task. When they arrived, Nikolaj tasked a still silent Rebekka with putting the boat away while he went and found the elders. He pushed open the door to the colony, walking down the lamp-lit corridor to find the main chamber of the colony.

"Nikolaj, you are back early. Did something go wrong?" Folke, one of Nikolaj's friends in Himmel, walked up to him. Folke was one of the few doctors in Himmel, trained by his parents. Many people in Himmel learned their parents trade. A few, like Rebekka, chose to forge another path. 

"Not yet. I need to speak to Forni." Nikolaj said. Folke nodded, waving a goodbye to Nikolaj before going off in another direction. Nikolaj returned the wave, looking around for Forni's tent. Everyone in Himmel lived in a tent. Generally, it was one for each family. There were beds, which usually went to the eldest in each family. The elders tents were in the middle of the clump of tents called the Lejr, which was itself in the middle of the main chamber of Himmel.

"Forni? It's Nikolaj." He said once he reached Forni's tent.

"Ah, Nikolaj. I expect you have news? Come in, come in." A old, quiet voice came from inside the tent.

Forni was, essentially, the elder among elders. At the ripe age of ninety seven, he really had no business being alive when the life expectantly of humanity had dropped rapidly. He was wrinkled, and slouched forward terribly. He was the slowest of everyone in camp, and his left eye was blind. But he was respected above all in Himmel, being the only one there who had any memories of the time before the sickness, vague as they may be. He had seen Himmel rise, and he would see this.

"Forni, we followed the strangers today. Rebekka... approached them, against my advice. One of them speaks Danish, and three of the others speak similar languages, though they had trouble understanding us. We spoke with them." Nikolaj said. Forni stroked his chin carefully, sitting down on an old, worn cushion. 

"What did they say?" He said, closing his eyes.

"They came from what they called 'The Known World', but they were all born in different places. From as far as Iceland, or Finland." Nikolaj had very little idea of what or where Iceland and Finland were. Geography was not something he learnt a lot of as a child. Forni knew however, his face lighting up.

"People are still alive in Iceland and Finland? What other countries, did they say?" 

"Sweden, I believe. Rebekka said that she was told one was also from Norway, and another from Denmark. They came together to explore this land. They called it the Silent World." Nikolaj said.

"So the Scandinavian countries, or what's left of them, must be able to communicate with each other. Were they peaceful?" Forni continued to stroke his chin, but a broad smile was on his face.

"Yes. They were very surprised to see us. They believed no one lived out here."

"I do not blame them. Where are they now?" 

"We told them to wait while we came here, up near the shoreline. Rebekka wants them to be allowed in." Nikolaj said.

"Do you think they should be allowed in?" Forni asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I do not know. They seemed genuine, but so did Helvede." Nikolaj looked at the ground, and Forni sighed at the mention of those people. 

"Nikolaj, we must be cautious. But we cannot be too cautious. If we are to shut ourselves away to opportunity, we shall certainly perish." Forni said, his shoulders drooping lower than they were before. Nikolaj nodded, his face solemn.

"I know. We have always had troubles, but we have pulled through before. We can do so again, I am sure." Nikolaj said.

"But we may not be able to do it alone. We-" Forni was interrupted by another voice at the opening of the tent.

"Forni? Nikolaj?" Rebekka. Nikolaj sighed. 

"You may come in Rebekka. I understand you have had a busy day." Forni said, plastering a small smile on his face. He glanced at Nikolaj as Rebekka entered, and he nodded. Their previous conversation was over.

"Before you say anything, I know I shouldn't have just talked to those people, but they seemed nice, and who knew where they would be in a weeks time. They might be a million miles away, we don't know, so-" Forni held up a hand, silencing Rebekka.

"Be still. I do not think you should get away without punishment for directly disobeying your elder," He nodded at Nikolaj, who nodded back. Rebekka frowned a little, but stayed silent. "But we can sort that out later. I have heard about these people from Nikolaj. I think we will be able to bring them inside Himmel. At least for just one night." 

It took a moment for the words to sink in to Rebekka. She began cheering out loud, before suddenly remembering herself and clasping a hand over her mouth. Forni smiled.

"You may go, bring them to me, and I may speak with them. Nikolaj will accompany you once again. Tell them they are invited to stay the night with us."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like the relations between the chapters and the prompts get weaker as it goes on. oh well.
> 
> Here the prompt is 'memories'. This refers to Forni, who still remembers a few things from the world before the rash sickness. Not much, mind you, being only seven when the sickness began, but it makes him pretty important in the eyes of the people of Himmel.
> 
> Translations:
> 
> Lejr = Camp
> 
> Whoever named the things at Himmel was not very imaginative.


	11. 12. Insanity

Mikkel was slightly concerned Tuuri was going to collapse from all the excitement. Apparently, discovering a colony of survivors existed was one thing, meeting them was another thing, and being invited to stay the night somehow topped all of it. The enthusiasm also seemed infectious. Reynir was starting to get into it, allowing Tuuri to tell him all her theories. Mikkel didn't mind that so much, it was better than Tuuri accidentally annoying Sigrun or himself.

Once Rebekka and Nikolaj had come back in one piece, they announced that they were invited to stay the night at Himmel. Rebekka had been just as excited as Tuuri was being, bouncing up and down on the spot. Nikolaj was more reserved, and it was clear he was the more cautious of the two. Maybe the smarter one. 

What followed was more driving, this time back to the 'safe spot' they had camped the previous night. Then they walked/ran to where Rebekka and Nikolaj showed them. Tuuri had brought along about a dozen notebooks and journals, enlisting both Reynir and Lalli (who had to be woken up, much to his displeasure) to help her carry them. She was also wearing her protective mask at the moment, because the Silent World was still the Silent World. She had also persuaded Reynir to wear his.

When they got to a small area which contained a few small boats, they stopped. 

"The boats fit three each. We have another scout out here, so we must leave one boat for him." Nikolaj said, pulling out one of the boats while Rebekka pulled out the other.

They split up into teams. Nikolaj took Emil and Reynir, (who himself carried the group's mascot/pet cat, lovingly named Kissa by Tuuri.) while Mikkel took Tuuri and Lalli in the other boat. Rebekka waited on shore with Sigrun for Nikolaj to come back. 

Mikkel and Tuuri rowed their respective boat, while Lalli stared down at the water below. Tuuri's multitude of notebooks were piled up in their boat. The trip over the water was far easier than Mikkel had been expecting, and Nikolaj led them to the island that they had seen before. Then Nikolaj unloaded Emil and Reynir, and went back to collect Sigrun and Rebekka.

"Katso Lalli, täma on missä he asuvat. Mielestäni voi nähdä lyhdyn siellä, ehkä se, jossa ne kasvavat ruokaa. En näe mitään taloja, niiden on elävat maam alla, vai mitä?" Tuuri was talking to Lalli in Finnish while gathering up her notebooks from the boat.

Mikkel looked up. The island was quite small, with little vegetation on the top of it. It jutted up, looking a lot like a small volcano. From what Mikkel could see, trees lined the edge of the island, but as it got taller, there was little more than bushes. He couldn't see any stairs anywhere that might lead up to the top, but he could see tiny lanterns.

"This is so weird." Reynir said, more to himself than anybody. Indeed, Mikkel thought. 

"It's incredible!" Tuuri said, halting her conversation with Lalli (who didn't seem to care) for a minute to try and dispel any possible doubts Reynir had. 

"It's insane. I thought I was lucky to survive out here for more than a week. These guys have been living here for..." Reynir trailed off, looking out to where Nikolaj was collecting Rebekka and Sigrun. 

"Ninety years." Mikkel said. Insane was a good word for it. Absolutely insane. The people of Himmel were insane for living out here, they were insane for coming out here. Putting a single foot in the Silent World was considered insane by just about everyone back in the Known World. Yet here he was. Surrounded by insane people.

"We could bring them back with us. Somehow. I mean, the tank obviously won't fit a few hundred people, but we could figure out something. Make multiple trips, get bigger vehicles. A ship or something. I mean, it can't be one hundred percent safe out here." Tuuri said.

"How did they do it..." Reynir said, absentmindedly stroking Kissa, who was sitting in his jacket pocket purring. The kitten had been with them a while, and Reynir had becomes its owner of sorts. 

"Okay, we're over!" Rebekka shouted, having rowed across the water. She leapt out of the boat, very nearly tripping and face planting onto the ground. She recovered quickly, running to the front of the group while Nikolaj put away the boat and Sigrun walked over to join Mikkel.

"Nikolaj, can I take them inside?" Rebekka called. Nikolaj grunted in response, which seemed to be a yes, as Rebekka clapped her hands together, running over to a stone wall in front of the group, covered in moss and overgrown vines. 

"Through here, but you must be careful not to trip." Rebekka said, pulling apart vines and rocks to revealed a small pathway. Tuuri was naturally the first to jump forward, dragging Lalli along with her, with Sigrun following close behind. Reynir and Emil went through next, leaving Mikkel and Nikolaj to take the rear. 

Mikkel was unsure of what he expected. The small path went down for a while, daylight giving way to light from lanterns, turning into steps before coming to a stop at a huge, metal door. It looked like it was made for a vault. Rebekka had opened the door already, with most of the group inside. Mikkel and Nikolaj soon followed them. 

"Welcome to Himmel!" Rebekka said, waving her arms around in a grant gesture.

Mikkel looked around, eyes widened. Himmel was a cavern, seemingly carved from solid rock. The middle of it contained a mass of tents and fabrics strewn everywhere, looking completely disorganised to him. The rest of the cavern was seemingly divided into sections, each section separated by various materials. Old boxes, sheets, and sometimes nothing. At the far end of the cavern was a small staircase, leading up out of Mikkel's sight. The entire place was lit by lanterns, though most of them were off. Instead, daylight streamed in from carefully selected places at the top of the cavern. Most of the group was staring in delight and awe, and Tuuri's pen was moving at the speed of light. 

What Mikkel noticed next was the people. From everywhere, he could see curious or apprehensive faces, some standing out in the open, others poking their heads out from tents or behind boxes. But slowly, the small bustle of activity that had been occurring stopped as people noticed the outsiders. A few cats also wandered around, though none looked trained.

"Come on, I'll take you to Forni. He's the elder." Rebekka said, leading the group along. She seemed completely unaware of the attention they were getting. No one approached them, clearing the way to the tents in the middle as they passed. Mikkel could hear them whispering though.

Rebekka and Nikolaj helped them navigate through the mass of tents. Mikkel could hear some people in tents as they passed. A few were silent, though others hissed with hostility. Eventually, they reached a tent in the middle. It rose slightly above the others, and was decorated with a few pieces of patterned cloth, something the other tents lacked. 

Nikolaj stepped forward the time, walking around to the front of the tent.

"Forni? We are here. We have brought the outsiders, as well as few stowaways, apparently." He said, loud enough that a few people curious enough to follow the group could hear. They quickly scurried away.

"Yes, please come in. I hope the tent will be large enough for all of them." An old, but happy voice came from inside the tent. Nikolaj held open the tent door for them, allowing them all to go through. 

The tent was a tight fit for all of them. Nikolaj and Rebekka had to stand outside, much to the latter's displeasure. Mikkel, being the only one who spoke fluent Danish, was seated at the front of the group. Sigrun, being the captain took the next best spot, and the others all filtered around sitting wherever was comfortable. Reynir and Lalli, the only ones who could not understand anything at all, sat at the back. 

"Welcome to Himmel! We have much to discuss. My name is Forni Kjeldsen." An old man, who sat on a small assortment of blankets spoke. He was short, with short hair whiter than Rebekka's and relaxed wrinkles on his face. A wooden cane lay nearby him. Mikkel nodded respectfully to the man, recognising the elder. How this man had survived for so long was a mystery.

"Thank you for inviting us here. My name is Mikkel Madsen, from Denmark. This is our groups captain, Sigrun Eide, from Norway." Here Sigrun stuck out a hand for Forni to shake, which he did. Pleasantries were exchanged between the two. Mikkel felt a tiny tapping on his shoulder, and looked behind him to see Tuuri, bursting from excitement. Mikkel sighed inwardly.

"This is Tuuri Hotakainen, from Finland. She speaks Swedish, so she can understand." Mikkel said. Tuuri also put out a hand for Forni to shake, though far more enthusiastically than Sigrun had. She opened her mouth to begin a probably endless barrage of questions, but Mikkel quickly interrupted her so that they would at least finish introductions before that started.

"Emil Västerström, from Sweden." Emil was seated a little far away for shaking hands, so nodded as a greeting.

"Lalli Hotakainen is Tuuri's cousin. He only speaks Finnish." Tuuri then spoke to Lalli, probably urging him to say hello or something.

"Hei." Lalli said simply. Forni nodded in acknowledgement of the greeting.

"And Reynir Árnason, from Iceland. He can only speak Icelandic."

Reynir had actually been paying attention, and recognised that he was introduced, quickly saying a hello of his own, accompanied by a little wave. Forni nodded.

"Wonderful. It is so nice to meet you all. Now, we can talk about other things." Forni said, his face becoming a little more solemn, but not losing the smile.

"Like I said, there is much to discuss."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the prompt for this one is 'Insanity'.
> 
> I had Mikkel think about insanity for a little bit, that counts right? *shrug*
> 
> Also, our main character meet more Himmelians! Yay.
> 
> Anway, so we don't a name for our little kitten in canon, so I came up with a headcanon.
> 
> Basically, Tuuri named it 'Cat'.
> 
> 'Kissa' is Finnish for cat. Lalli probably just called it cat all the time, so when Reynir decided the kitten needed a proper name, Tuuri suggested Kissa. Reynir thought it was great, Tuuri thought it was hilarious that they literally just called it 'Cat', Mikkel, Sigrun and Emil didn't really care as much, and Lalli just kept calling it 'Cat', which is also now it's name. 
> 
> Anyway, onto other translations:
> 
> Katso Lalli, täma on missä he asuvat. Mielestäni voi nähdä lyhdyn siellä, ehkä se, jossa ne kasvavat ruokaa. En näe mitään taloja, niiden on elävat maam alla, vai mitä  
> = Finnish for =  
> Look Lalli, this must be where they live. I think I can see a lantern up there, maybe it's where they grow food. I don't see any houses, they must live underground, don't you think?


	12. 13. Misfortune

"Please, tell me about where you have come from." Forni said, his hands clasped together.

"We are on a research mission to the Silent World." Mikkel said. "Documentation, recovery of old documents. Things like that." Forni nodded.

"I see. How long have you been out here?" 

"A little over a month. We were due to start heading back when winter was over." Mikkel said. Tuuri was still writing things down, but didn't seem to be paying much attention of the conversation since it was centred on them, not the people of Himmel.

"Though we did break the bridge so I don't know how that's going to work." Sigrun interrupted. Forni blinked twice.

"I... see... What is it like back where you all live? Is it safe there?" Mikkel was getting the feeling that this was more of an interrogation than a discussion, but it wasn't exactly unfounded. This was one of the first major communications between them. 

"Some places are safer than others. Iceland is the safest, and the most advanced." Mikkel said.

"Can you communicate back to them?" Forni asked.

"Yes, we have a radio. We have already told them what we knew about Himmel. We also said we would speak to them again tomorrow, after our visit here. They are very excited." Mikkel said. It was an understatement. Tuuri had jumped on the radio again the second after They were told they were invited to stay the night at Himmel. Apparently, Torbjörn had already called the Icelandic government, the Swedish government, and just about anyone in a position of power that would listen to him. 

"Really? Do you think they would be open to us rejoining the rest of civilisation? I would not like us to stay isolated forever. Ninety years has been long enough." Forni apparently decided not to beat around the bush any longer. His shoulders sunk down, and he lost the smile he had been wearing fro the past few minutes.

"Of course they'd be open to it! How could they not?" Tuuri interrupted, paying attention once more. 

"It's a bit more complicated than that. When we come back, we have to be completely decontaminated. It would be harder with... How many people live here?" Sigrun said, a finger on her chin.

"Three hundred and twelve. Including me." Forni supplied.

"Right. It would be insane. Of course, we can't just leave you here, not now that we know you're here..." Sigrun said.

"First we'd need to clear it with the governments. Then there's the matter of figuring out where they would stay. Somewhere in Denmark would be the best option because of the language barrier, maybe Bornholme, but it might be too small... Maybe we could bring them out in groups." Tuuri said.

"But then we'd have to get them there. Our tank is barely big enough for six of us. They'd have to send in more vehicles." Mikkel said. He knew they were jumping to conclusions a little, but he didn't mind joining in on the speculation. 

"I'm sure there is a solution. I am glad that you are so willing to help my people. I know some of them will be nervous about having outsiders here. Their fears are not unfounded." Forni said, a weak smile playing on his lips. Mikkel was quiet for a moment. Sigrun had a finger on her chin, thinking about the feasibility of transporting three hundred and twelve people all the way back to the Known World. 

"Sir, if it's alright asking, have you seen other people before? Rebekka mentioned a place could Helvede. She did not make it sound like a nice place." Tuuri said, a little more reserved than she had been. Forni slumped over slightly, looking far older than he had before.

"Yes. Helvede is another colony, further away. A few years ago, our other scout Mette discovered them. She said she found them when they began to attack her. Like fools, we believed it was simply because they were cautious. A few brave souls offered to go to them, to see why. Mette and Nikolaj escorted them, but they were the only ones who came back. They told stories of the people being violent, kidnapping the people we sent to speak to them. I forbade any further attempts at contact, I could not risk any more of my people dying. That is when they became known as Helvede." Forni said, speaking slowly. Everyone was silent during the story, though Reynir and Lalli didn't understand it. Tuuri closed her notebook for the moment, frowning.

"That's awful." Emil said once Forni had finished speaking. 

"Yes. Forgive my people if they are apprehensive about you. For many, what happened still remains fresh. But I am trusting you, based on the word of my scouts. I do hope this turns out well for all of us." Forni said, his voice taking on a warning tone. 

"As do we." Mikkel said, bowing his head.

"We won't do anything to abuse that trust, we promise." Tuuri said.

"Very well. Now, let us discuss some less serious matters." Forni said, smiling slightly once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some backstory for the people of Himmel, and for Helvede. Poor Himmel. But at least Helvede don't know where they live, because they never told them.


	13. 14. Smile

Rebekka was waiting for them once they left Forni's tent after discussing a few menial things, mostly where they would stay for the night. 

"How did it go? You guys are still going to stay, right?" Rebekka asked, looking momentarily horrified at the thought that they were not.

"Yes, we are. I wouldn't miss this opportunity for anything!" Tuuri said, patting Rebekka on the shoulder. 

"Uh, Mikkel, what did happen in there?" Reynir said, walking up to Mikkel, who nodded. The poor boy had been completely confused, being utterly unable to understand anything that was talked about.

"We introduced ourselves, spoke about some things. Do not worry about it. Tuuri would probably be glad to explain at length later on." Mikkel said. He had a feeling poor Lalli and Reynir would bear the brunt of Tuuri's enthusiasm. At least Reynir often didn't seem to mind. 

"Oh, okay. What are we doing now?" Reynir asked, absent-mindedly patting Kissa's head, which stuck out of his jacket pocket. The little kitten was purring softly, happy and content. A happy cat is a good sign, Mikkel thought.

"Figuring out where we will stay tonight." Though Mikkel doubted it would be much of a problem. Forni had given them permission to stay with Rebekka and/or Nikolaj's family, since they already knew each other. Mikkel had a feeling the former of the pair would jump at the opportunity.

"Yes! That's a brilliant plan! You can all stay with me! Though I'm not sure my family's tent is big enough." Rebekka said when the plan had been explained to her, grinning broadly. Nikolaj was standing next to her, sighing.

"I'm sure I can fit those who are unable to stay with Rebekka." He said, looking like he wished he couldn't.

"Wonderful! I would like to go with Rebekka, no offense Nikolaj." Tuuri said. Nikolaj grunted in response, and Mikkel felt the man didn't mind that particular arrangement at all. Especially if his tent was far away from Rebekka's.

"Lalli should go with Tuuri because he'll be needing translations. Which means Reynir should probably go with either Tuuri or myself." Mikkel said, before translating the situation at Reynir.

"I don't mind where I go." Reynir said, smiling.

"Reynir doesn't mind whom he goes with. I think I will go with Nikolaj. I have a feeling it will be quieter." Mikkel said.

"Definitely. I will stay with Nikolaj as well!" Sigrun declared, clapping an unsuspecting Nikolaj on the back. The poor man nearly fell forward, catching himself on Reynir's shoulders. 

"I'll go with Rebekka." Emil said, his face so solemn he may as well have been volunteering to go into battle. 

"A brave sacrifice. You will be remembered." Sigrun said, mock-saluting Emil.

"Well, looks like Reynir is with us." Mikkel said, before translating to Reynir. 

"Great! I'll see the rest of you soon!" Rebekka said, waving at the group going with Nikolaj, before running off to show Tuuri, Emil and Lalli her family's tent. 

Nikolaj's tent was quite far from Rebekka's apparently, a fact that Nikolaj seemed quite pleased with. 

"I would not be surprised if she is still awake at midnight." Nikolaj muttered as they arrived at his tent. It was smaller than Forni's and more muted in colour.

When they went inside, it was clear that the tents were only really used for sleeping and storing things. Half the tent was taken up by mats, blankets and pillows, with the other half being various personal belongings and supplies. The tent was, at the very least, clean and organised.

"How many other people sleep in here?" Sigrun asked, after assessing the state of the tent.

"Just three. My mother, father, and my younger brother. They are all out at the moment, but should return soon." Nikolaj said, moving around a few of the supplies in an effort to make more room. Mikkel translated all of this to Reynir.

"Oh. Can you ask him his younger brothers name, and how old he is?" Reynir asked. Mikkel posed the question to Nikolaj, who didn't seem bothered by it.

"His name is Bjørn, he is nineteen. He might be apprehensive about you, just a warning." Nikolaj said, his voice impassive. Mikkel relayed the information onto Reynir, who frowned slightly at the warning about Bjørn, but nodded.

"What about our kitten? I hope no one in your family is allergic." Mikkel said, realising that keeping Kissa inside the tent might be problematic.

"No. It should be fine. I think we will be able to fit you in here." Nikolaj said, stepping back to show the space he had cleared. It would be a tight fit, but Mikkel thought they should be alright. Nikolaj began rummaging around, collecting a small assortment of blankets and pillows.

"I will have to find mats from somewhere." Nikolaj said, dropping the pile on the ground.

"So what should we do now. What do you people here do when you're not... Doing whatever you do around here." Sigrun said, waving her hands around in an attempt to convey activities.

"Mostly we do our jobs. There is a lot to do." Nikolaj said.

"What do you family do?" Mikkel asked, curious.

"My father is a guard, he is training my brother to be one too. My mother works with the farmers." Nikolaj said, shrugging.

"How interesting." 

\----------------------------

Rebekka led her three new tentmates around like a tour guide. Instead of taking them straight to her tent, she wandered around Lejr a little, pointing out different spots. Finally, though, she actually took them inside. Her family's tent was little different to Nikolaj's family tent. Beds on one side, supplies and belongings on the other. 

"We may have to move some of this stuff..." She said, surveying what she and to work with.

"This is so nice! Do you eat dinner and things in here?" Tuuri asked, still writing things down in her notebook. They had all been recruited to carry some, with Rebekka putting hers in the hood of her jacket because she couldn't be bothered to carry them properly. 

"No, everyone eats our meals together, so they can make sure no one eats too much. Mostly we just sleep in here." Rebekka said, still trying to figure out the best way to move around the stuff in their tent. If she moved her bed, then she could shove some boxes in the now-empty space...

"So, when will your family come back?" Emil asked, putting the notebooks he had been tasked to carry down on the ground.

"It should be soon. It is nearly dinner. Oh, I know! Once we make some space for you guys to sleep, I can introduce you to my friend at dinner! Her name is Jutta. She is very nice." Rebekka said. Surely nothing could go wrong if she introduced her new friends to her best friend.

"She'll be okay with us? You know, being outsiders and all." Emil asked, scratching the back of his neck. Rebekka thought about it for a moment.

"Sure, I think so! She's always been pretty open about stuff, it's why we're friends." Rebekka said, shrugging. That actually wasn't the whole reason why she and Jutta were friends. It was actually because they were so close in age. Jutta was a year older than her, but they might as well have been twins. The next closest age gap was three years. She began moving things around, trying to create space. 

"Do you need help?" Tuuri asked, putting the notebooks she was holding down. Rebekka quickly waved it off. They didn't have guests often, but her mother always said to never make a guest do any work. Jutta did always love coming over, now that she thought about it...

"No, I'm fine. You guys are okay if you all sleep next to each other, right?" She received nods from Emil and Tuuri as answer. Lalli didn't really do anything, just sort of look around, frowning slightly. Rebekka thought Lalli was a bit strange, but supposed being unable to understand what anyone apart from your cousin was saying would be quite difficult. Though the other person who couldn't understand anyone in Himmel, Reynir or whatever his name was, didn't seem as strange as Lalli. Maybe it was just Finnish people. 

"Okaaay, well, do you think that will be enough room for you guys?" Rebekka asked, stepping back to admire her handiwork. She had pushed all the boxes and supplies up against the tent wall, creating a small space that would hopefully fit three people. 

"I think it will be enough." Emil said, offering a small smile. 

"It's plenty, lets go!" Tuuri said, quickly unloading all but one of her notebooks and stacking them in a nest pile. She hastily said something to Lalli, who just nodded once. Rebekka grinned. She really liked Tuuri. 

"Wait, where are we going again?" Emil asked, looking a bit more concerned.

"To meet people! Rebekka, is it okay if we meet your friends now? Or we could meet your family, or anyone really. If that's okay." Tuuri said.

"No it should be fine. We can go meet Jutta first, she's close. She takes care of the chickens with her parents." Rebekka said casually. Jutta had such an easy job, though according to her it was also very boring. 

"You have chickens?" Tuuri asked, tilting her head. Rebekka wondered if they had chickens or not in Finland.

"Yes. Only about twenty of them. Jutta's family was the one who brought them to Himmel in the first place, so they have always looks after them." Rebekka said. It was a fact Jutta was most displeased about, because unlike Rebekka, she hadn't quite been willing to become a scout. So instead, she tended chickens. 

"Cool. Alright then, let's go!" Tuuri said, smiling before saying something to her cousin.

Rebekka smiled, before obediently leading her three guests out of Lejr and through Himmel. Jutta was right where Rebekka had expected her to be, watching over the chickens while her parents did important grown-up things. Jutta's face lit up when she saw Rebekka, before quickly becoming very confused when she saw the three people with her.

"Who are they?" Jutta asked, eyes wide. 

"They're outsiders! But not from Helvede. They're researching the Silent World." Rebekka said proudly, grinning. 

"What's the Silent World?" Jutta asked, narrowing her eyes at Emil, Tuuri and Lalli. 

"It's what they call this whole area where we are. They live with thousands of other survivors! Well, they're all split up in different places, but still!" Jutta looked unconvinced.

"Hello!" Tuuri said, waving with one hand, whole holding the notebook she had brought with her in the other.

"Uh, hi." Jutta said, waving awkwardly. She looked over at Rebekka, clearly uncertain.

"Don't worry Jutta, they're fine! I've been with them practically the whole day. They're really nice." Rebekka said, taking her friend by the hand and pulling her towards Emil and Tuuri. Lalli had wandered, looking at the chickens.

"Hello! Uh, again. I'm Tuuri, this is Emil, and that's my cousin Lalli. Nice to meet you." Tuuri said, sticking out a hand for Jutta to shake. The girl looked over at Rebekka, who nodded. Honestly, why was she do nervous? Jutta cautiously took Tuuri's hand.

"Nice to meet you too? Um... what's he doing?" Jutta said, before pointing. Rebekka turned, only to see that Lalli was now completely wandering off, apparently having decided it was safe to do so. Tuuri ran off after him, shouting after him.

"Lalli En voi uskoa teille! Kuinka monta kertaa minun on kerrottava teille ei vaeltaa pois!" Tuuri shouted, causing nearby people to look over in confusion. Emil just seemed to sigh inwardly.

"What is she saying?" Jutta asked, looking at first Rebekka, then Emil. Both of them just shrugged.

"I have no idea." Rebekka said.

"She's speaking Finnish. Lalli doesn't understand anything else." Emil said, scratching the back of his neck. Rebekka had noticed he did that a lot. 

"Finnish?" Jutta asked, tilting her head.

"You know. From Finland. That's where Tuuri and Lalli live." Emil said, looking more and more uncomfortable now that he was the only outsider around.

"People actually live there?" Jutta looked like she didn't believe him.

"Uh, yeah." Emil said, looking around at Tuuri, who was still chasing after Lalli and shouting things in Finnish at him. Rebekka wondered if she would get in trouble for letting then wander off. She decided not to risk it, she was already in trouble. 

"Well Jutta, we'll see you again at dinner, we really should go get Tuuri and Lalli, byyyeeee!" Rebekka said, grabbing Emil's hand and dragging him after her. Jutta waved an awkward goodbye, staring after the group long after they had left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so the party splits up! And Lalli wanders off. But why? Did he see something interesting? We shall find out. 
> 
>  
> 
> Translations:
> 
> Lalli En voi uskoa teille! Kuinka monta kertaa minun on kerrottava teille ei vaeltaa pois!  
> = Finnish for =  
> Lalli I can not believe you! How many times do I have to tell you not to wander off!
> 
> Tuuri does not want her poor only-Finnish-speaking cousin to get lost in a place where no one else speaks Finnish. She also wants to make a good impression, and running off after him to make sure he doesn't do something stupid is not a good impression


	14. 15: Silence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So now that the event is over, I will post absolutely everything I completed during that month for the sake of showing you what I have done. I will do all the other prompts eventually, and hopefully they will be better than what I did during the month.
> 
> Anyway, this prompt is silence. In this case, Lalli is the one being quiet and not telling Tuuri what's going on.

Tuuri followed Lalli, who was making things difficult, weaving in and out through tents, past people and around large objects. 

"Lalli! Where are you even going?" Tuuri shouted, painfully aware that they were making a scene. A lot of people were looking their way. Some just looked confused, others were whispering among themselves. 

Eventually Tuuri realised that Lalli was going back to the entrance. Was he trying to leave? She had to stop him.

"Lalli, you need to stop! Like, right now!" Tuuri called out. Lalli's retreating figure didn't respond, probably expecting her to figure out what he was doing through telepathy or something. In fact, if she wasn't hallucinating, Lalli might have actually sped up. Great. Now, he was actually running away from her! 

"Who are you?" Someone called out, barely intelligible thanks to both the accent and Tuuri not paying attention. Lalli was slowing down, thank the Gods.

"Lalli!" Tuuri said, panting. Lalli had stopped in front of the door they had come in, staring at it for a second before moving again, opening the door and disappearing into it. Where on earth was he going? Tuuri looked behind her. She could see Emil and Rebekka running after them, as well as a few random people she didn't know looking at her quizzically. What to do? Go after Lalli, or wait?

Making a snap decision, Tuuri turned and ran through the open doorway, racing up the stairs with one hand on the wall to keep her steady. Where was Lalli now? 

"Lalli?" She half-shouted, half-asked as she reached the top of the stairs.

Lalli was frozen, halfway through the mass of vines and tree roots that blocked the entrance to Himmel. A few tiny streams of daylight was there, but quickly fading as the sun fell. 

"Lalli, what are you doing?" Tuuri asked, tapping him on the shoulder. He turned around, almost looking surprised, like he hadn't noticed she had been following him. He looked her up and down once, then glanced back outside.

Silently, Lalli grabbed the mask that was hanging around Tuuri's neck, pulling it up to her face and tightening it. Tuuri stood there, slightly shocked. Why did he want her to put the mask on? Unless they were in danger...

"Is there something wrong?" Tuuri whispered. Lalli had turned back to the outside, focusing intently. Tuuri didn't say anything else. She didn't always know exactly what was going on in Lalli's head, but right now she had a feeling it was something... Magey. In any case, Lalli's intuition was right more than it was wrong, and Tuuri had learned over the years it was usually better to just trust that inuition of his.

Tuuri tried to look past Lalli, to see if whatever he was sensing was in sight. The daylight was waning, and soon she wouldn't be able to see anything at all. Vines in her way didn't make it any better. She squinted, scanning what she could see. Lalli stayed perfectly still in front of her, blocking the way out. Tuuri couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. But whatever was out there had Lalli visibly concerned. Maybe even worried. 

And that just made Tuuri worried.


	15. 16. Questioning

Lalli scanned the landscape carefully. It was getting dark, but that didn't affect him so much as it did non-mages. He knew there was something there. Something bad. He couldn't explain exactly how he knew. He just felt it, from the bones in his toes to the hairs on his head. Something was out there.

He'd felt like this a few times in his life. Twice while he lived at Saaima, once during his time at Keuruu, and once on this little research expedition he had been apart of for the last month or so. Well, it was before the expedition started, on the train. That time, it had been a troll, readying to attack them. The times before, it had been trolls as well. Which did not bode well for this time. 

Tuuri had followed him, which irked him a little. But he had to be quiet so that he could focus, so he just put her mask on and continued looking, trying to sense where the... thing was. 

He looked everywhere. The water was clear, nothing strange going on under there as far as he could tell. He could sense fish, normal fish, swimming around in the waters, though he couldn't tell what kind of fish they were. But they were normal, which was good. 

The trees and forests were a different story. The thing was definitely coming from inside the forests, moving around bushes and trees. Towards them, which was why Lalli's senses had gone off. It wasn't a trolls usual lumbering pace. Whatever it was had a purpose. A destination. Either Himmel was directly in the path of the things destination, or it was the destination. Neither was good, really. 

Tuuri was being quiet now, thankfully. Lalli would much rather if she were quite far away, back inside this Himmel place. She would be safer there. But he had to find whatever had tripped off his mental alarm bells. He couldn't do that and usher Tuuri back underground. 

The thing was getting faster now, still moving towards them. He could pinpoint a direction now. Just to the east, maybe a mile or two out from them. Getting faster and faster. As this rate, it would reach them in a minute. Two if they were lucky. It was time to move.

"Come." Lalli said, grabbing Tuuri by the arm and pulling her back down into the staircase.

"Lalli? What's going on?" Tuuri asked, stumbling a little but righting herself. They had a minute and forty five seconds left, tops.

"Something is coming this way. Very fast." Lalli said, hauling the door open. One minute thirty seconds.

"What? What is it?" Tuuri asked, looking back the way they came. The door opened, revealing a very startled Emil and Rebekka. They both opened their mouths to speak, but Lalli ignored them for the time being. He wouldn't understand what they were saying anyway, and he had only about one minute twenty two seconds left. Probably less. He made sure Tuuri was fully through the door, before closing it tight behind them.

"Tuuri, Lalli, vad som händer?" Emil was talking now. He, Tuuri and Rebekka began talking to each other, which Lalli just ignored. One minute left. He could sense it much stronger now. It was definitely coming.

"Jag vet inte, Lalli sade något är ute."   
"Huh? Hvad gjorde han se?"   
"Jag vet inte, han inte säga exakt vad der var." Forty seconds. Lalli looked around for someone important he could tell, but didn't see anyone. Not good.  
"Är det som när vi var på tåget?"  
"Hvad er et tog?"  
"Frågar honom, han ser nervös." 

Lalli had exactly twenty two seconds left on his internal timer when a huge shuddering went through Himmel. Everyone stopped what they were doing, and Emil, Tuuri and Rebekka stopped talking to each other. People poked their heads out of tents, looking around fearfully. A few brave souls ran forward, holding weapons of all sorts. 

"Hvad sker der?" Someone shouted, running up to the group. 

"Det finns något där ute! Min kusin såg något!" Tuuri said the to person, before turning to Lalli.

"Lalli, do you know what it was?" Tuuri asked. Lalli barely heard the question, trying to figure out where the thing was going.

"Lalli, I really need an answer here please!" Tuuri continued.

"I don't know what it is for sure." Lalli finally said.

"Well, what do you think it is?" Tuuri refined the question, which made it much easier to Lalli to answer.

"I think it is a troll. Big one." 

"Hvad siger han?" 

"Han tycker att det är en stor troll!" Tuuri was speaking to them all now. There was a collective gasp, which made Lalli think she had told them there was probably a troll roaming around. Good, now they knew. They had to have people capable of dispatching a troll, if it really was attacking them.

"Er vi under angreb?" More and more people were gathering around. Some had weapons, ready to fight the mystery attackers, others were just curious. They were probably all going to get themselves killed. 

"Har de bringe en trold her?" Lalli stopped listening to them talking. It was pointless. He could tell almost exactly where the troll thing was. It wasn't moving over them as he had hoped. It was staying put, moving around at the front of this place. Wonderful. 

"Tuuri, tell them it's right outside." Lalli tugged on Tuuri's jacket to get her attention.

"What, really?" 

"Yes. It's not moving." Tuuri was looking quite pale at this point. 

"Does it know we're here?" Tuuri asked, looking at the door. Lalli shrugged.

"I don't know."

"Hvad sker der derude?" People were talking gibberish again, so Lalli stopped listening again. Tuuri was talking to them now, and people were looking more and more panicked. Lalli turned back to the door, trying to focus. 

The thing, which by this point he was quiet certain was a large troll, maybe even a giant, was situated just outside. It was shuffling around, looking for something. Probably them. Lalli ignored all the people that had gathered around him, trying to focus on what the troll was doing. A lot of noise they were making was muffled, making it difficult to hear outside, but if people kept talking, the troll might hear them.

"Tell them to be quiet." Lalli said to Tuuri.

"Okay, okay, but what do we do?" Tuuri asked, looking at Lalli.

"Be quiet."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whelp here we are. Lots of translations here. I don't know if I'll keep doing it. Usually characters can understand each other, and when they can't, whoever is speaking the other language usually isn't saying anything important. Plus I don't trust google translate.
> 
> Anyway, here the prompt is Questioning. Everyone is questioning just what the heck is going on right now.


	16. 20. Fortitude

"Um, guys, Kissa's going crazy." Reynir said, holding up the kitten. It was true, the kitten's hair was on end, and she was trembling, squirming in Reynir's grip. Wonderful, Mikkel thought. Absolutely wonderful.

"When our cats do that, it usually means something is wrong." Nikolaj said, walking up to Reynir and looking at Kissa.

"Well, time to figure out what's wrong so we can fix it." Sigrun announced, walking towards Reynir and the kitten. 

Suddenly, there was a huge bang from somewhere outside. Everyone inside the tent started, looking around at each other.

"Something's going on out there." Nikolaj said, pushing past the others towards the entrance to the tent. Sure enough, Mikkel could hear people. Some shouting, others murmuring. He turned around, following Nikolaj out the tent. 

There was a relatively large gathering of people, maybe twenty or thirty, around the entrance. Mikkel's heart sunk. Tuuri, Lalli, Emil and Rebekka were at the centre of that crowd. Of course they were. 

"What do we do?"  
"Is it coming this way?"  
"Does it know we're here?" People were calling out, being far too loud for Mikkel's taste. Tuuri was trying vainly to get everyone to be quiet, while Lalli stared at the door in and out of Himmel. 

Mikkel followed Nikolaj towards the crowd, with Sigrun quickly catching up and Reynir tagging along behind them. 

"What's going on here?" Nikolaj said once he reached the crowd, pushing through to reach the ones in the middle.

"There's something outside!"  
"The foreigners say it's a troll."  
"Did you hear it?"  
"What if it breaks through?"

"Mikkeeeel!" Emil shouted when she saw them. "A little help please!" 

"What is it?" Mikkel asked. 

"Tuuri says Lalli sensed a troll, and then there was that big bang, so now everyone is all freaked out." Emil said, speaking quickly. Wonderful. Just wonderful.

Nikolaj was speaking to some of the people, getting them to clear out. It was no good having them all so close to the entrance, especially if there was a troll. Mostly the only people that had gathered there were either the stupidly curious or people ready to attack whatever was out there. Mikkel was rather they weren't attacked at all. But some of the crowd had dissipated, running back as far away from the entrance as they could. All throughout Himmel, the nervousness had spread. No matter where Mikkel looked, there was someone just watching. Waiting for something to happen.

"Alright, where's the troll?" Sigrun said, looking around.

"Outside. We think. I didn't actually see it." Tuuri said. Mikkel noted that she had her mask on. He wondered if Himmel had any non-immune people in here. It was unlikely, this place didn't have anything close to decontamination. If anyone got sick, it would spread to all of them extremely quickly. 

"Reynir, put your mask on." Mikkel said to Reynir, who was still holding a very stressed-out Kissa.

"Oh, okay. What's going on? Is something bad happening?" Reynir asked, putting Kissa in his jacket pocket and fumbling with his mask. 

"Lalli said there's a big troll out there. He says it isn't going anywhere, I think it knows there are people here. We need to be quiet or it will hear us." Tuuri said, tapping her fingers together nervously. Reynir had fully secured his mask, now trying to calm down Kissa, who was getting more and more agitated. 

Mikkel noticed that a few cats he had seen earlier wandering around were also agitated, hissing and arching their backs, facing the direction of the entrance. One particularly skittish cat was high tailing it to the other end of the cavern, sprinting between and around people and tents.

"You're right. At the very least we need to get people away from the door. Nikolaj." Mikkel said, walking over to where the man was trying to calm people down.

"Don't worry, we'll take care of it. What is it?" Nikolaj said, speaking to a nervous young woman before turning to Mikkel.

"We need people away from this wall. They're making too much noise, whatever's out there will hear it." Mikkel said.

"I know, that's what I'm doing. I'd say to get your people away as well. That scout of yours is just staring at the door." Nikolaj said, frowning. Mikkel looked. Lalli was focusing very intently, probably trying to sense what the troll was doing. Granted, Mikkel knew little about mages and how their magic worked.

Mikkel opened his mouth to speak, when Lalli suddenly leapt back from the wall, eyes wide. A few people nearby that had been watching him leapt back at well. Mikkel had enough time to think of about half a dozen possibilities as to why Lalli would do that, none of them good, before there was a low, guttural roar from outside the entrance.

"Se tietää olemme täällä! Meidän täytyy mennä!" Lalli said, pointing at the wall once before turning, grabbing Tuuri and Reynir's hands and running backwards. Both Tuuri and Reynir were too surprised to resist being pulled along, though Lalli wasn't very strong in the first place. 

"Ah faen." Mikkel heard Sigrun say from nearby. At this point they were familiar enough with Lalli to know that if he was spooked enough to run away, there was something wrong. 

"Get away from the door now!" Nikolaj said, pushing people out of the way if they were too slow to move themselves. Another low roar came from outside, followed by a pounding sound that reverberated around the cavern. Mikkel was fairly sure he heard at least one child scream. Great, more noise. Just what they needed.

"Rebekka!" Mikkel spotted the young girl, not having moved with everyone else to the other side of the cavern. She was either incredibly brave, or incredible stupid. Right now, Mikkel was leaning toward incredibly stupid. Right now, she had no business being there.

"I need you to go get those people to be quiet! We can't have every troll, beast and giant in the area coming here!" Mikkel said, staring Rebekka in the eyes to make sure she got it. The girl nodded, finally running off to try and get the other people to be quiet. Good. 

He did a mental check of who was still hanging around. Sigrun was ordering about a small group of men that looked reasonably competent with the arrangement of knives, spears and harpoons they were armed with. None of them looked incredibly enthusiastic about following her orders, but did it anyway. She was also ordering about Emil, who was quite used to it by this point, setting an example to the others.

Nikolaj was shuffling along the last few stragglers, making sure they moved as far away as possible. There was another great pounding sound on the other side of the door, following by a low rumbling and cracking sounds.

"It's trying to get in. It must be trying to make a hole big enough to fit through." One man said, holding his spear like it was the last thing that could possibly save him. 

"It knows we're here. We're doomed!" Another man said, starting up a round of nervous and frightened whispering and shouting. 

"We'll definitely be doomed if you don't shut your trap! The thing needs sound to find us if it can't see us!" Sigrun said, loud enough for the men to hear her, but not the troll. The men promptly shut up, clutching their weapons tight. 

Slowly, there began to be actual quiet. Whatever Rebekka was doing was working, because apart from a few very young children crying (and even that was slowly quieting down), people were starting to realise that sound was not good when a troll was just outside ones door. Mikkel feared it was too late at this point. They'd already made too much noise, the troll already knew they were there. Their only defence might be the strength of the rock and the door keeping it out. Perhaps it would go away at morning. Mikkel hadn't seen much opportunity for shade for it when he had been outside, at least not on the island. But if it broke through, anyone fighting it would be at a disadvantage. They were already at a disadvantage. For starters, Emil had left his flamethrower at the tank, mostly because he had a feeling people at Himmel might think he would attack them. Sigrun had not left her own weapons at the tank, for reasons known only to her, but right then Mikkel was thankful for it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So apparently google translate lied to me. Kissa does not meat cat in Finnish. (It's Kisu apparently)
> 
> But oh well, Kissa is the kitty's name. I also like that Minna decided to just have everyone keep calling the cat cat, but in everyone's respective languages. 
> 
> The prompt here is Fortitude (jumping around a little). In this case, the supposed fortitude of Himmel is knocked right down. Ain't as safe as you thought.


	17. 17. Blood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter does have a bit of violence in it, a warning for the squeamish. Nothing too graphic (I think), but a troll is attacking, so yeah. Also a swear word later on, but it's just the once (unless you count the small string of Swedish swearing Emil does)
> 
> The prompt for this is Blood. You can probably figure out how that relates to this chapter.

Great. Just great. A troll was attacking the one day Emil decided to leave his flamethrower in the tank. Sure it had been for a good reason at that time, wandering around with a weapon like that was hardly going to say 'we're trustworthy', but he was really regretting the decision now. 

Sigrun was already taking charge of the few people here that seemed willing to fight the troll. Emil had a feeling that when it came to trolls, the people of Himmel were more 'get away' than 'kill the damn thing'. 

Every now and then, the air was punctuated by a pounding that vibrated through the cavern, making it sound much louder than it probably was. Emil guessed that sooner or later the troll would be able to get in. Then he would have to help fight it off. They were severely under-equipped, but if the troll could only make a small opening which it couldn't fully fit through at first, they pmight stand a chance if they asked quickly. Thankfully, Sigrun was all about acting quickly.

"You! Over there!" She was giving orders to just about everyone, punctuating her words with sharp gestures, so that there was no question of what she wanted. They had precious seconds before the troll actually reached them, and she was using them wisely. 

Emil had been handed a long handled knife, and was now standing a fair way away from the door, where the troll was most likely going to break through. He stood, waiting. Every time the troll pounded and smashed away at the rock that had so far protected the people of Himmel, it got closer and closer. Eventually, everyone that Sigrun had deemed worthy of fighting were prepared on what would be the front lines of the battle. Everyone else who still wanted to fight were just behind them, and everyone who wasn't fighting as retreated as far away as possible. Then they just had to wait.

They didn't have to wait very long. After one particularly brutal pounding from outside, a long crack appeared, starting at the metal door and stretching upwards. More and more cracks began to appear, the metal of the door warped and dented until finally, with one resounding 'crack', it flew open, flying a good fifteen feet, and smacking one poor man in the side. Part of the troll, a heaping mess of flesh, bones and blood, slithered through the new hole in the wall. The pounding continued, hammering pieces of rock away almost constantly. The hole got bigger and bigger, and if left unchecked, the troll would be able to completely fit through. 

Emil saw Sigrun leap forward first, because of course she did. A few brave souls followed her, holding their weapons tight and stabbing at whatever part of the troll came near them, with very little aiming going on.

In the corner of his eye, Emil saw a thin arm of the troll whip up and around, taking out a man who had plunged a spear into its body. He ducked to avoid the same fate, wincing when the man crashed into the wall behind him.

He jumped forward, stabbing his knife into one of the heads of the troll that he could see, and grabbed the spear that the man had been using. 

They were making quick work of the part of the troll that had burst in, but more and more cracked through the walls every second, and dodging falling pieces of rock just made it far harder. A few unarmed people made themselves useful, helping to drag the injured out of the way, and shouting warnings if someone wasn't paying attention. 

The stench of battle filled the air. It was something Emil had grown quite used to in his time in the Silent World. The stink of blood and guts, mostly from the trolls they fought. At first it had disgusted him. 

They were losing ground. Every second the troll managed to push more of its body through the hole, forcing them to step backwards or get crushed. If only Emil hadn't left his damn flamethrower... But there was no time to worry about that now.

He ran forward, slashing the spear into any viable head he could find. He managed to pick up another dropped knife, and switched to using the spear to help block the troll from slamming into him, and using the knife to attack. He'd fought more trolls than he had liked since coming to the Silent World, and though he was by no means an expert, he had a pretty good idea of how it was done at this point.

It became a rather morbid rhythm. Hack, slash, dodge, duck, jump, slash, stab. There was no time for any proper thoughts really. His attention was entirely focused on the enemy in front of him. 

Jump over an arm of the troll trying to sweep him off his feet.

Slash that same arm with his knife, sending in to squirm uselessly on the ground. 

Stab the closest part of the main body of the troll, ignoring the awful cracking sound as one unfortunate woman nearby got her leg twisted in ways it should not twist. 

Hack at the part of the troll holding her with the spear, realeasing her. The woman was screaming horribly, dropping her knife to the ground and falling herself. 

Slash at the troll, protecting the woman from any further damage until someone else could drag her away, writhing and screaming in pain.

Rinse and repeat, over and over. It became very clear that most of the people in Himmel had never fought a troll before. There was a small group of capable fighters, including Nikolaj, that Emil took to be the go-to troll exterminators. 

Emil jumped over what he thought was a dead head of the troll, which suddenly jerked forward, clamping down on his ankle and biting hard. 

He screamed once in pain, stamping down hard on the head with his other foot, and stabbing his spear into it at the same time. The troll let go of him with no warning, sending him stumbling backward now that nothing was keeping him upright but his bad ankle. 

"Helvetehelvetehelvetehelvete" Emil hissed under his breath, landing on his backside, but still facing the troll. He pulled his spear out from the dead head of the troll, taking a moment to get his bearings again. 

The trolls teeth had run deep, but Emil hadn't heard a crack, so he hoped they hadn't gone deep enough to hit bone. Blood was already staining his boots, which he hoped had absorbed most of the impact. Emil gritted his teeth. It wasn't the worst injury he could get, and if he didn't move soon the troll would just try to hit him again.

"Are you okay?" Someone called out from behind him.

"I'm perfectly fine!" He shouted, only being slightly sarcastic. There was no way he'd be able to fight a troll very well on one leg. Most likely he'd get in the way of the more agile fighters.

The person who had asked if he was okay apparently wasn't satisfied with his sarcasm, because Emil suddenly felt a strong pair of arm quite literally drag him away from the fight.

"You're not okay." He said, pointing at his bad leg. No shit. But Emil was grateful to the guy for getting him out of there. 

"I'll be fine." Emil had no clue whether or not Himmel had doctors or medics (it stood to reason they had someone to help hurt people, but he didn't know who it was), but he wasn't even that injured. He could probably fix it himself if someone gave him a bandage.

"Emil." Mikkel's voice came from just behind him. Emil looked up, seeing a slightly worried Mikkel.

"Uh, hi." He said, grinning awkwardly. Mikkel sighed, walking around and kneeling in front of Emil's ankle.

"How much does it hurt?" He said, and Emil couldn't help but notice that Mikkel's jacket was already splattered with blood, and so were his gloves, which he was currently replacing with a fresh pair from a small pocket in his jacket.

"Uuh... A bit? Like, I'll live." Emil said, dividing his attention between Mikkel, his ankle, and the troll. 

Emil couldn't tell if they were forcing the troll back or not, but it hadn't gained any more ground, which was good. The initial shock of the attack had worn off, and a few people who had been too scared to fight at first had picked up abandoned weapons and joined in. Sigrun was practically a fireball, jumping this way and that and probably helping more than anyone else. A few other people came close, but the battle seemed to be turned in their favour. 

The walls and floor nearby were stained red, and troll guts and flesh were littered just about everywhere, but it looked like they might be winning. 

Mikkel had taken Emil's boot off, pulling out a bandage and a few small odds and ends. 

"I won't be able to clean it properly. Like you, I left most of my equipment at the tank. I wasn't expecting to need my peroxide. When we get back tomorrow I'll be able to disinfect the wound. Infection won't kill you overnight." Mikkel said, stripping off Emil's sock as well.

Emil winced whenever Mikkel went near the wound, and winced again when he properly saw it. He couldn't quite see the puncture holes for all the blood everywhere, clotting up and dripping down his foot. Mikkel washed it off with some water, which resulted in more wincing. Emil didn't cry out, he couldn't handle some pain, but he wanted this to be other with. Mikkel quickly wrapped a small length of bandage around the wound, before standing up.

"That's about all I can do for you now. They don't have many resources here, and you only have a minor wound. Don't do anything stupid though." Mikkel said, taking a moment to survey his handiwork. Emil nodded. He already knew there were bound to be people worse off than him, far worse. He doubted Himmel had the capabilities to deal with all of it. Just another reason why it was a damn miracle they'd survived this long in the Silent World. 

They must not have had to deal with something like this before, or they would have a better way of dealing with it. Which meant either trolls were intercepted before they got this far, which begged the question as to why it wasn't intercepted this time, or the trolls had never discovered that humans lived down here. Which just opened up more questions. How did it find out?


	18. 18. Rainbow

Tuuri and Reynir, the only non-immune in the place, had been shuffled so far away from the action, they could barely see anything. But they could hear it. 

They could hear the crashing and cracking as the walls fell apart. They could hear the low, guttural roar of the troll, the sharp swings in the air when it swiped at someone. They could hear the quick stabs and slashes of knives and spears, the grunts and shouts of people fighting. Worst of all, they could hear screams of pain, the cracking of bones, the splashes of blood spilling. The sound of someone smashed into the ground by the troll, someone else shouting for bandages, for water, for anything to help the injured. 

They could hear it all, but they couldn't help. Because they weren't immune, because if they so much as breathed near the troll without a mask on they might get sick and die themselves. If Tuuri had been immune, like Lalli was, she wouldn't have to worry about that. She could be fighting, or helping, or something. Anything except cowering as far away from the action as possible with the too young, too old, or too weak. Tuuri wasn't weak. She wasn't too young, or too old. She was just not immune. She hated it. 

"Are they winning?" Reynir asked, busying himself stroking Kissa's head. The kitten had practically buried herself in Reynir's jacket, mewing pathetically. Tuuri stood on her tiptoes to try and see. They weren't allowed to even be at the front of the 'not allowed to fight' group. Reynir didn't mind this so much as Tuuri, preferring to sit down and wait the whole thing out, but he was still curious. And the sounds of the battle didn't exactly help one in ignoring it. 

"I think so." Tuuri said. She was so short, another thing she didn't really like, she could barely see.

One thing she could see was the troll. It had stretched itself out and up, climbing up the walls, looking like a black stain or a parasite, contrasting heavily against the lighter coloured rock walls of the cavern. Here and there she could see someone's head bobbing and moving about as he or she fought, knives raised high in the air, spears slashing downwards. Sometimes she saw a person fly upwards, landing a little further away. It was chaos over there.

Not that it was much better over here. More than one small child was crying loudly, and everyone else was talking among themselves. Tuuri could only catch bits and pieces, they were talking so fast, but none of it sounded very good. 

They had been sitting there for ages. It felt like the battle would never end. Until it did. Not all at once, but slowly, Tuuri began to realise that everything was winding down. People weren't shouting as much, the noise level was lessened, the troll stopped growling. The amount of times a knife or spear met troll flesh decreased. Everything seemed to calm. Tuuri heard one final smash, probably from someone stamping the life out of a troll head, and then nothing.

It was dead. It was actually dead. 

The silence didn't last very long. Once everyone in the non-combatant zone realised the fight was over, everything seemed to speed up again. Tuuri's first instinct was to run and see, but Mikkel and Sigrun would probably kill her. So instead she pushed her way to the front of the group. Surely there was no harm now that the threat was neutralised, as long as she kept her mask on. Which she would do anyway. 

"Is it over?" Reynir asked, recognising the shift in mood. People weren't as scared anymore. They were more relieved.

"I think so!" Now Reynir was up, and, being a lot taller than Tuuri, was able to see what was going on a lot better.

"Woah. That thing is ugly." Reynir said, his nose crinkled up in disgust. 

Tuuri was busy scanning the people that were around. She could see Sigrun kicking the corpse of the troll in deliberate places, probably to make sure the thing was actually dead. Every now and then she stabbed it with a spear she had gotten from who-knows-where, or stomped on it. Her clothes were practically drenched in troll gore, but she looked quite pleased with herself. 

Mikkel was crouched over some poor man that had been injured. He, too was covered in blood, but Tuuri had a feeling it was more human than troll. The only person Tuuri couldn't see was Emil, even though she had only seen a few blondes in the place. 

Lalli, who had flitted back and forth from the troll fight to make sure Tuuri and Reynir weren't sneaking off, was now gazing at the dead troll, as if he didn't quite believe it was dead. Unlike most people down there, his clothes weren't splattered with gore, instead being as clean as they had been that morning. 

She could also see Rebekka, getting yelled at quite thoroughly by Nikolaj and another pair of people that Tuuri thought might have been her parents. Seeing as Rebekka had been barred from fighting the troll due to her being only fifteen, it wasn't hard to guess why she was being chewed out. Her clothes had splatters of troll gore on them, and her cheeks were flushed. The girl had snuck off to fight the damn troll. Tuuri didn't know if she was an idiot for doing it, or a genius for mostly getting away with it. 

There was one small clump of people that Tuuri thought he might have been a part of. She had seen Mikkel among them, so she was inclined to think that was where the injured were. Had Emil been hurt? Sigrun and Mikkel had both seemed fine, if extremely messy. 

"I hope everyone's okay." Reynir said, pulling out Kissa from his jacket pocket. The kitten had calmed down now that's the threat had been killed dead, now staring curiously at the dead troll. 

"Me too." Tuuri said, feeling the urge to run over and see. Surely it would be fine now that the troll was dead, right? It wasn't like she'd do something stupid like take her mask off. A few other people had already wandered over, either out of curiosity or concern. 

"Screw it." She said in her native Finnish. Reynir looked at her curiously.

"I'm going over there." She said to Reynir, switching to Icelandic. His mouth dropped open slightly, pausing his petting of Kissa mid-stroke.

"Really? Is that a good idea?" He asked.

"I'm sure it's fine. Kissa's happy now, and I've got my mask on. I'm going to go look." Tuuri said, beginning to walk over before she changed her mind.

She stalked the entire way across the cavern, feeling less and less sure the closer and closer she got to the dead troll. The thing was hideous. It was like a heaping mass of blood, guts and bones. What used to be internal organs spilled out, littering the ground. A slowly widening stain spread out, turning the dusty brown of the rock a deep reddish brown. Now that she was closer, it was clear the troll was a giant, a bunch of ordinary trolls fused together. It explained why it took a while to break through the door, it was so big it needed to make room. It also explained why it took so long to kill, there were so many viable heads. 

Tuuri looked around. Mikkel was busy tending to a man whose arm was hanging on by practically a thread. Tuuri winced, turning around. She wasn't the best with injuries like that. 

Sigrun seemed to be in the middle of celebrating her victory over the troll, taking great pleasure in smushing the dead heads of the troll into the dirt as much as she could. She looked like she could keep going for hours, her face nearly as red as her hair. She was also probably the messiest of everyone Tuuri had seen. Nearly everyone who had been involved had some measure of mess on their clothes or body, but Sigrun took the cake. Her clothes were probably permanently stained red and brown, and pieces of gore were stuck to them. Her face had splatters of gore, and it was impossible to tell if she was cut at all. Her hair was now a rainbow of red. 

Tuuri was nearly gobsmacked at the sight. Sigrun didn't even seem bothered by the fact that she was basically drenched in dead giant. Sigrun looked up, seeing Tuuri, and jumped down from the body of the giant, walking up to her.

"You look awful." Was all Tuuri could think to say, glancing up and down Sigrun, who actually grinned at the statement, white teeth a stark contrast to all the reds and browns.

"I've seen worse. That was pretty successful I'd say. Some nasty injuries, but it could have been a lot worse." Sigrun said, glancing at the people around her. 

"Yeah. Have you seen Emil?" Tuuri asked. She had seen everyone except for him. Sigrun nodded.

"Oh yeah. Got his ankle chomped on by the giant. Nothing too bad, I'm sure he'll be fine tomorrow." Tuuri was not extremely relieved by that. She would probably play off a broken bone as 'a nasty bump'. 

"Where is he?" Tuuri asked. Sigrun pointed towards the small clump of injured people.

"I reckon I'll come with. Better see how my right-hand warrior is surviving." Sigrun said, grinning again. It was a little unsettling, seeing someone drenched in blood and guts grinning like she had gotten a prize. 

They walked through the crowd, eventually finding Emil. He was sitting up on the ground, his ankle bandaged. His normally flawless hair was ruffled up, and had spots of crusted blood in it. He lit up when he saw Tuuri, and stared when he saw Sigrun.

"Woah." Emil said. Sigrun just kept grinning, like she was enjoying the discomfort she was causing. 

"Hey Emil, how you doing?" Tuuri asked, sitting down on the ground next to him. Emil cleared his throat.

"I'm managing. Mikkel wasn't able to treat it properly, the good supplies are still at the tank." He said, his voice taking on the tone of a fatally wounded soldier. 

"Ah, you'll be fine. Up and walking tomorrow I reckon." Sigrun said, clapping him on the shoulder and leaving a small imprint of blood on his clothes. Emil grinned awkwardly.

"What do we do now? Are we still staying the night?" He asked, looking pointedly at the dead troll. 

"Well, we can't exactly go back to the tank at this hour..." Tuuri wondered aloud. What were they going to do? Tuuri probably wouldn't be able off her mask, and Sigrun definitely hadn't brought a change of clothes. Unless her underclothes had gotten away unstained, she would look like a walking bloodstain for a while. 

"Of course we're still staying! No point in going back now. Besides, that ol' giant is blocking the door!" Sigrun said, grinning. Both Tuuri and Emil smiled, finding the idea of staying a little more appealing than going back to the tank like this. Sigrun covered in blood and gore, Emil injured, Tuuri and Reynir not even immune, and with very few weapons. In the dark. How inviting. 

"Hey guys." Rebekka walked over, sitting down next to Tuuri with a dejected look on her face. Like Emil, her clothes were stained with blood, but not even close to Sigrun. One clump of hair looked like it had been dipped in blood, and there were splatters off it on the rest of her hair and her face. 

"What happened to you?" Emil asked. 

"My parents and Nikolaj were kinda mad at me." Rebekka said, waving her hands off as if to dismiss it.

"For what, fighting the giant? I'd say you handled yourself well." Sigrun said, shrugging her shoulders. Rebekka brightened up immediately, not seeming the least concerned by Sigrun's appearance.

"Really?"

"Well, you ain't dead or dying. I'd call that a successful first battle." Rebekka's smile faltered a little, but she still seemed much happier with the praise. Tuuri was not sure telling a fifteen year old to be grateful that she was not mortally wounded was a good thing.

They were a strange little bunch. Everywhere around them, people seemed to just be in shock. Like they couldn't believe what had just happened. Some couldn't seem to believe they were still alive. The dead giant was an eyesore, bright red blood mixing in with different shades of brown. The previously warm atmosphere of Himmel had taken a gory turn.

Everyone who had participated in the battle had stains of red and brown. Only a few had escaped without any kind of injury. Tuuri couldn't see if there were any dead yet, but she knew there might be. She was glad that of all of 'her' people, only Emil was really injured. Sigrun might have gotten some cuts and scrapes, but it was rather difficult to tell. Then she felt terrible for thinking that. After all, the people of Himmel had family and friends that would be upset if they died. Just because she didn't know them didn't make them any less important to somebody. She hoped nobody had died.

Is everyone else okay?" Tuuri asked, looking between the other three. Sigrun shrugged dramatically.

"People got injured, that's for sure. Don't know if anyone's dead, if that's what you're asking." Sigrun said, finally shedding her blood-stained jacket in favour of her simple black skivvy's underneath. 

"I didn't see anyone die..." Rebekka said, now looking worriedly towards the makeshift 'hospital', which was little more than a spot on the ground where all the injured had been placed for examination and whatever treatment was possible. 

Emil didn't say anything, which Tuuri didn't fail to notice. There was an awkward moment of silence. What if someone had died?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little bit of after-battle talking. Turns out Sigrun did a lot of the work. There was no way she could have done it herself, but she certainly would have made a good go of it.
> 
> The prompt here is rainbow.
> 
> I guess there are a lot of colours? Mostly red and brown from blood and stuff, but still. It counts. *shrug*


	19. 19. Grey

Mikkel tried to remember how many people he had looked at. There were at least five with critical injuries. Without proper equipment, it was unlikely they'd fully recover. For at least two, it was more likely they would be dead by the morning. The other three critically injured would at least live. There were a few dozen more with varying injuries that required his attention. Everyone else who had participated in the fight had scratches and bruises, they got a cursory glance to make sure that was it and then they were sent on their way. Himmel had a few people that qualified as doctors, but this was far beyond their depth. But no one had died. Not yet. It was unlikely it would stay that way.

Of the two people that were more or less dying, one had gotten stabbed in their side, and had been accidentally left to bleed out for a while. When Mikkel and finally been called over to him (leaving a poor woman who had gained a broken arm, twisted back in ways it should not go), he knew he probably wouldn't last long. They'd tried to stifle the bleeding. If he had been stabbed more in the middle of the chest, he would already be dead. But the man was holding onto life, flitting in and out of consciousness. The other 'halfway inside a coffin already' was a man who had been slammed against the walls of Himmel repeatedly, bashing his head. As it was, there was very little Mikkel could do for the man. He just didn't have the equipment to deal with brain damage. The man had fallen into unconsciousness, and though he still had a pulse, it was very quickly slowing down. 

Both men's families had been called, given priority over other families of the injured. It was likely everyone else would live, albeit with scars. Himmel had not been prepared for this.

The man Mikkel was currently looking at had only minor injuries, gashes along his right arm. They required stitching, but Mikkel had precious few supplies for that. He had already looked at the more serious injuries, and not enough resources to properly do this mans stitches. So he did was could, advising the man be very careful. He had more supplies in the tank, but wouldn't be able to reach those until at the very earliest, morning, and after the entranced was unblocked of a dead giant. 

"Do not move it much if you can. The stitches are delicate." Mikkel said to the man, who nodded, gritting his teeth together. 

He looked around for someone that required his attention, scanning those who had already been treated. A lot were just resting, though some had already moved to rejoin their families. Those who could not move, or did not feel well enough to, had to wait until their families could come to them. 

His eyes fell on Emil, now surrounded by an extremely messy Sigrun, Rebekka, and... Tuuri? Mikkel sighed. Of course she'd come down the second the action was over. At least she was still wearing her mask. After a quick check that no one needed his help, he walked over to the group. Emil was at least following directions, sitting down and resting his leg. He'd already seen Rebekka getting chewed out for fighting when she wasn't supposed to, and Sigrun could take care of herself. 

"Hello." Mikkel said as he approached them, pulling off the gloves he had been using. If there was one thing that he was not in short supply of at the moment, it was disposable gloves. 

"Hey Mikkel. Are you done over there?" Emil asked, peering over at where the injured were laying. 

"For the moment. I was just wondering what all of you were doing." Mikkel said, looking pointedly at a now-blushing Tuuri. 

"Er-well, the fights over, so I figured it would be fine if I came over. It is... Relatively safe now." Tuuri said, looking away from Mikkel. He sighed inwardly. 

"She'll be fine. Giant's dead, and it's blocking the door, so nothing else will be able to get in either." Sigrun said, pointing towards where the entrance to Himmel used to be. 

"Exactly! See, I'm fine. Reynir's fine too, though I think I might have left him alone... And no one here can speak Icelandic... Whoops." Tuuri's face turned very red when she realised that Reynir was probably clueless at the moment. Mikkel had a feeling he too would soon be wandering over, if just to find people he could communicate with again. 

"Reynir can take care of himself for a little while. At least he knows how to follow directions." Mikkel said. Sigrun scoffed at the comment, while Tuuri's face may have actually gotten redder.

"Well-it's over now, so it doesn't really matter. There's more important things to talk about. Like... Emil's ankle! How bad is it? Will he ever walk again?" Tuuri said, speaking quickly.

"Of course I'll walk again!" Emil said indignantly, as if Tuuri had insulted his ability to walk. Mikkel raised an eyebrow at the clumsy attempt at changing the conversation topic, but sighed and went along with it. 

"He'll be fully recovered in about a week, if it doesn't get infected thanks to my current lack of disinfectant. He'll be able to walk again tomorrow." Mikkel said. He had been lucky. Sigrun even luckier. Based on the amount of gunk and gore on her clothes, she had gotten extremely up close and personal with the giant on multiple occasions. 

"Oh that's good! But what are we going to do now? We have to stay the night now." Tuuri asked, preferring to keep talking rather than let the conversation somehow settle back on her not following orders, even if Mikkel had no real intention of pursuing that particular conversation anymore. 

"We'll help these people rebuild, and then tomorrow we will go back to the tank as planned." Mikkel said. Tuuri nodded.

"But what are they going to do once we leave? We can't just leave them here alone forever." Tuuri said, gesturing vaguely around Himmel.

"They've survived this long, they can survive a while longer. Those people back in Sweden know they're here. They aren't just going to sit twiddling their thumbs about it. Probably." Sigrun said.

"They won't." In truth, Mikkel wasn't sure what they were doing back in Sweden. Torbjörn was probably out of his mind, and he wouldn't be surprised if he were camping at their end of the radio, waiting for Mikkel or Tuuri or someone to update him on what was going on. 

"How about we actually get back to the tank tomorrow before figuring out what we're going to do next." Emil said, having been quiet for a while. The group all generally agreed to this, nodding. Mikkel glanced behind him. 

"I need to go now. I'll see you all soon. Don't do anything stupid." Mikkel said, turning around and walking back to the injured. A woman, one of the few slightly-medically-capable people in Himmel ran up to him. The man who had been slammed against the rock by the troll had died sometime while he had been talking with the others. Mikkel double-checked the man's pulse, confirming he was dead. Mikkel sighed. A waste of life. 

Mikkel glanced back at the entrance of Himmel, where the dead hulk of a giant was still lying. A few people were standing near it, as if trying to figure out how they were supposed to clean it up. It would be a hard task. Rebuilding the entrance would be a hard task. Himmel had a long clean up ahead of them. Mikkel wondered how they had survived for so long out here. Hardly anyone seemed to have an idea of how to fight a troll, much less a giant. Perhaps they had never been attacked before. Which just gave Mikkel more questions. Why had they been attacked now?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not everyone in Himmel got out unscathed unfortunately. Emil and Sigrun both have practise, Sigrun especially. Mikkel wisely kept away from the action, Reynir and Tuuri were faaaar away from the action, and Lalli had enough experience to handle himself during a troll attack. Not everyone in Himmel has had that advantage. Yet they live in the Silent World. Funny how things turn out.

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first chapter, my introduction. I wondered a lot as to what I was going to do with this. I don't know why I decided on this, I just had a random thought and decided to go with it. Where it will lead me, I don't know.


End file.
